Young Adult / 1 Fan

Billie Joe woke up about an hour before she did. Instead of  getting ready like he should, he decided to lay there and watch her for a while. As she slept, he gently ran his fingers on her cheek and down her neck. He smiled as a light grin appeared across her face. He stared at her lips a little longer, and eventually diverted his attention to the ceiling as he tried to remember every step of  their relationship up to this particular moment. She looked just as beautiful this morning as she did the first time they met. He went over the events that had taken place so long ago in his mind almost everyday. Especially on days like these when his departure lingered in the air as soon as he woke up. He knew he should be going, they were on their way to pick him up probably right at that very second. But he just couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed knowing that this would be the last time he woke up in his own bed with his wife lying silently yet beautifully at his side for a long time. And that was hard enough to keep him permanently glued to the bed waiting for something to pry him loose.

Just then there was a muffled voice.

“Billie Joe?”

He turned suddenly and smiled immediately as his wife woke up with a confused look on her face.

“Billie!” She said again, but this time a little more frantic. “Fuck… It’s like 11:42,” as she looked at the clock, “Billie, You are gonna be late, have you even packed?”

She sat up looking around searching for his bags.

He looked at her adoringly then sat up and kissed her. “I was hoping if I forgot to pack I wouldn’t have to go,” Billie said dejectedly. She smiled then rested her forehead upon his, as she secretly had been hoping the same thing.

“Life’s a bitch,” She said jokingly, as he closed his eyes and cupped her cheek with one hand and gently stroked her hair with the other.

They sat there for an undisclosed amount of time, just trying to use every second they had left to paint a permanent picture of their lives together, hoping to burn it into their minds.

Just then they heard the bell, they were here. Billie got up quickly and ran in the closet, grabbed a pile of clothes, and threw them into a dirty laundry bag. He got dressed quickly then stopped and stared at his wife one more time.

“Sage…” He said softly, “ I guess I have to go.”

Sage got up and kissed him passionately . He wrapped his arms around her, almost as if he never wanted to let go. She pulled her lips away from his and gave him look of pure love.

“I’ll be here waiting for you,” She said amorously. “But you have to go. So be the stronger one, and suck it up, because if you start crying I’ll break down completely, and I would hate that. Spare me the embarrassment, and let me cry once you leave and I know I’m alone,” Sage said with an attempted smile, but failed miserably. He smiled once more, and gave her one last kiss.

“I love you… is an understatement,” Billie said as his grip on her loosened slightly.

He turned with great effort and walked out of the door, leaving Sage with just the memory she’d burnt in her mind seconds ago.

2

As the tour bus pulled away from their house, Sage watched sadly through the upstairs window. She would have gone down to say hi to all the guys, but she wasn’t dressed and she knew they were late as it was. And that was it. She saw the bus turn the corner, and Billie Joe was gone once again. Her heart ached slightly as the loneliness began to creep up inside of her, and the all too familiar feeling of her stomach falling was present again. She always felt like that when Billie had to leave for tour.

But she’d never really been sad since before she had even met Billie Joe…

-—--REWIND TO 15 YEARS EARLIER--—-

“Sage…”

“Hello, is anybody even alive in there?”

You felt a couple jabs on your arm, and were brought back to reality. Brittany was sitting in front of you, with an amused look on her face. Standing next to her was Sam, who was staring at you like you might lose your mind at any second.

You looked around confused, you’d forgotten that you  were still in school, and had apparently been in a dazed daydream for the past twenty minutes.

“Dude, you need to get off whatever the fuck your on,” Brittany said, laughing.

Sam looked a little more serious then she did, and shot Brittany a stern, cold look after hearing what she had to say. “Are you okay?” She asked concerned, looking at you with compassion.

“Yeah, I’m just tired,” you yawned.

You lived in a small town in Northern Colorado, called Fort Collins. Most of the people who lived there were local skiers and boarders, since there was easy access to the slopes from there. There were some rednecks, near the farming area, but it was actually a pretty liberal area. Colorado State University was located in Fort Collins, so there was a vast majority of potheads and hippies all over the place during the school year.

You were seventeen and had lived in Fort Collins your whole life. It wasn’t a bad place to grow up, there were lots of outdoor activities to keep you busy. But you had always wanted a different life. You were always the kid dreaming up big ideas and imagining what life in the city would be like. And that’s exactly what you were doing when you had been interrupted by your two best friends, Brittany and Sam.

“So, Dude, have you finished the lyrics yet?” Brittany asked.

“Yeah,” you replied reaching your pocket to retrieve your scribbles. Brittany glanced at them, and then nodded approvingly, handing them back to you and turning to Sam.

“Did you get the money?” She asked her hopefully.

Sam looked at her with a look of annoyance, then simply said, “Are you sure you wanna do this, I mean if we fail, then not only will we have dropped out of high school for nothing, but we’ll be stranded and there’s no way our families will ever talk to us again…”

“Fuck our families. If they can’t understand how much this means to us, then we won’t thank them when we’re winning our Grammy’s, okay?” Brittany said matter of factly, like it was destined that we would win Grammy’s.

You smiled when she said this. You guys had been practicing your Grammy Speeches since you were seven years old, and God forbid we forgot to thank our families, even though we always did…

“Okay,” Sam said defeated, “ My mom gave me 1200 dollars.”

“I got about nine hundred” You said, trying to count how much money you had saved over the past couple of weeks silently in your head.

“And with mine, that’s about….Thirty-Two Hundred.” Brittany added up in her mind.

“Holy shit, I’ve never had that much money before in my life…” You said stunned. Just the thought of that much money made you nervous.

The three of you had been planning your escape for the past three years, and were now ready to drop out, move to the city, and get your band out there. None of you had told your parents that, but they would find out eventually when you were all gone.

“Well, I think we’re ready… Pack your shit and I’ll come pick you up around midnight, just make sure your front doors are unlocked, that way we won’t wake anyone up” Brittany stated, then looked at you, as if expecting you to object suddenly. But you didn’t, this time you were ready. This time you wouldn’t wuss out at the last second, you’d been waiting for this, and it was gonna be everything you’d dreamt of. She smiled looking pleased with her self, then turned and walked back to her desk.

This was a weird school day. You suddenly started noticing things you’d never noticed before. After all, this was your last day of school.

3

“SAGE”

You heard a loud whisper coming from the hall. You walked out of your room, and sure enough, there was Brittany standing at the foot of your stairs. You grinned, then ran back to your room grabbing a small bag of clothes, then swiftly tossing them to Brittany, who immediately ran to put them in the van. You went back into your room and quickly grabbed your acoustic guitar, your Squier Stratocaster by Fender, and all the piles of the hundreds upon hundreds of  songs and random scribbles of lyrics that you had found lying around your room. Once you were sure you had everything, you bolted down the stairs out to the van where Brittany and Sam were waiting. Brittany had a look of overwhelming happiness on her face. She had been waiting for this moment for so long, and it was finally here. Sam, on the other hand looked nervous as hell. She looked at you apprehensively , half hoping you shared her nervousness. But you just smiled at her, because for once in your life you weren’t scared at all, in fact you shared Brittany’s excitement. Sam looked a little disappointed, but cleared all fear from her features, and smiled all the same.

“Lets get the fuck outta here, bitches!” Brittany said as you laughed and jumped into the shotgun. She threw your stuff in the back and climbed in the driver’s seat.

The van was trashed, and now to add to all the trash, was you, Sam’s, and Brittany’s trash, literally packed into the trunk. Brittany and Sam had obviously stopped by the gas station, because there was pop, chips, and candy spread out in their packages all over the floor of the car. Sam was sitting in the center seat behind you and Brittany. She looked a little more exited now that she was chewing on some sour worms.

Brittany was bursting with ecstasy. She had the hugest smile stretched across her face as she started the car, and the three of you began your journey, with no clue what lye ahead…

-—---—---—---—---—---—---—--

“This is the longest fucking car ride I have ever been a part of. When the FUCK are we gonna get there?!!” Sam said angrily.

Her choice of words shocked you a bit, and brought you back to reality. Sam wasn’t the hugest curser in the world, that was more Brittany’s thing.

“Shut the fuck up, will you.” Said a VERY annoyed Brittany, as she glared at Sam through her mirror.

Sam ignored her, and you found this to be an appropriate time to turn on the radio.

The drive from Fort Collins to Berkeley, CA, was about a 32 hour drive, thanks to the couple thousand pit-stops you guys made due to a seriously over-active bladder that Sam had.

You guys finally arrived at the apartment building that was your new home.

It was shit.

The whole place was falling apart, and it smelled like moldy ass. Sam looked absolutely disgusted with the place, she might as well had just walked into a biodome of sewage and dead rodents. Brittany on the other hand, looked content. And you couldn’t help but agree with her. You guys didn’t have that much money, and this was good enough for the time being.

It took a couple hours to put together you guys’s new apartment. Since it was so small, and there was only one bed room (where you guys decided to put all the band equipment), you all three had to set up your beds made of old pillows and blankets where ever you found enough space. Yours was in a little nook near the window in the living room.

-—---—---—---—---—---—-—-

You guys were fucking awesome. No bullshit. This band was fucking awesome. You knew it, Brittany knew it, and even Sam could admit it. No later then seven weeks after moving to Berkeley you had already made a name for yourselves in the punk rock scene.

The one night after a particularly good show, you guys walked back stage to find a man named Adam waiting for you.

“Hi girls, my name’s Adam,” The man said. This guy looked like he had been spit out of the pages of GQ. He was very attractive, but he had a slimy, record producer quality about him, that immediately turned you off. You looked at him like he was an alien. Here you were, in a dirty, grimy punk rock club in the Bay area. Most of the people here hadn’t showered in four days. Everyone was wearing torn up, stained clothes, and Adam looked extremely out of place. He was wearing a pinstripe suit, and had his hair slicked back. He truly did look like alien to these people, although he probably felt the same about them.

He looked you up and down, then asked you “So, would you ladies mind joining me for a cup of coffee?…
By the way, that was an amazing performance, we have a lot to discuss..”

Brittany got a cocky smile on her face, and seemed incredibly satisfied with herself. You shot her an angry glare, that immediately wiped the smile off her face.

“Why, what do you want?” You said defensively.

“I, Sage, would like to discuss your careers in the music industry. Sound okay with you” He said this with a lot more attitude then he spoke with before. Brittany pinched your arm and gave you a pleading look. And eventually you gave in, and the three of you decided to join Adam for a cup of coffee.

He was a million times worse then you thought he was when you first met him. He was pretentious, big-headed, and was the typical cliché bastard of most record companies. But that was leveled when he offered you guys a record deal.

You and Sam watched Brittany after arriving home, completely bewildered, as it looked as if her head might explode. She was of course much more exited about the whole thing then you and Sam were. She spent the entire night sitting around making plans for what she was gonna spend the millions of dollars, that we were sure to make, on.

It was one of the most annoying things you had ever experienced.

4

You had been in a writing frenzy. It had been four months since you guys had been signed to Reprise records, and since then you had written fourteen songs that were good enough and had been approved to be on the album. Out of them, there was about four or five songs that were all approved to be singles. The three of you practically lived in the studio.

One night, you were in an inspirational mood, and decided to stay much later then Sam and Brittany, both of whom had left five hours earlier. But you couldn’t leave, you had become completely obsessed with finishing this song.

Three hours later, you had at least laid down a rough version of the song, and were too exhausted to do anything more. You looked at the clock; It was 3:37 am.

“Fuck,” You muttered to yourself as you put on you hoody and began to shut off all the equipment.

As you walked down the hall to the elevator, you noticed someone else with your odd obsession was still in the building also. You looked over the railing next to the elevator into the main lobby about five levels below where you stood. There stood a guy with messy hair, who was carrying a guitar and a drink, talking to some of the janitors and laughing about something.

Just then the elevator door opened, so you stepped in. The Reprise building was beautiful, the elevator you were standing in was made of glass so as it went down you were able to see everything. And everyone outside of it could see in. You looked around dreamily at the fancy building, and just as it arrived at the main floor you noticed that the guy who was previously laughing with the staff, was staring at you through the glass. You suddenly got very embarrassed and looked away immediately, completely unaware that the boy was still staring at the back of your head.

As you got off the elevator and turned to walk out the sliding glass door, you suddenly bumped into something, and as you looked up, it backed away, slightly embarrassed.

“I’m sorry,” The guy said.

You blushed as you noticed just how attractive this guy really was. He looked at you in the eyes, but then turned away, with a slightly shy smile, and put his hands in his pockets. You just looked down at your feet, imitating his shy smile.

“It’s just that… I couldn’t help but notice..” He pointed at you shirt and you looked down and noticed you were wearing an Operation Ivy Tee. Then as you looked up at him, you noticed he was wearing the exact same shirt. For some reason both of you found this incredibly funny, and broke out into a nervous laughter.

“I guess I should start buying clothes that are more gender specific,” You said, embarrassed that you were wearing the same shirt as a guy. At that, he began to laugh again.

“You look better in it then I do, compared to you, I don’t do this shirt much justice.” He smiled at you and stared deep in your eyes.

“Right, well…” You said trying to control your blushing.

At that you began walking out the door again, leaving the guy staring after you. You walked out to the bus stop on the corner, and waited silently.

God damn, if you weren’t so shy, you could have at least asked what his name was… You began to muse to yourself. Just then the bus finally came. As you boarded you wished you would have been more outgoing with that guy…

Just as the doors to the bus began to close, you saw that very guy running over to the bus. He stopped at the window you were sitting in, and motioned for you to roll down the window. You did, but just as you got it all the way down, the bus started to move.

He began to walk with the bus, as he yelled, “What’s your name!?”

You looked down at him and smiled brightly, as you yelled back, “Sage Ramone!” He smiled at you, by now he was almost running to keep up with the bus.

“Wait!” You screamed back at him as he started to slow down, “What’s yours?!”

He flashed you a grin, but instead of yelling back, he began sprinting to the front of the bus. He banged on the door, and the driver slammed on the breaks as he noticed there was someone running with the bus. He opened the doors, and the guy got on, obviously tired from his little workout.

“Hey, pal! What the FUCK do you think your doing!” the driver yelled angrily at the guy.

“Carry on,” He said, not noticing the anger in the man’s voice. At that the bus started again.

He walked back to the seat where you were sitting and sat down next to you. “Hi.. Sage.” He said looking deep into your eyes. “My name is Billie Joe, and I thought you deserved a proper introduction.”

-—---—---—---—---—---—-—-
The two of you talked for hours, so long in fact, that you missed your stop, twice. By the time you remembered that you even had an apartment or had to sleep for that matter, it was already morning, and you and Billie were sitting at the bus station in downtown Berkeley.

“Shit…” You yawned, “I’ve been up all night.”

Billie looked at you adoringly. “Yeah, I guess we lost track of time around our second detailed discussion about why South Park is the greatest show on Earth,” He said laughing.

“Dude, I gotta get home, my friends are gonna freak the fuck out.” You said, smiling as he helped you up. You both yawned and stretched, and walked off the bus you had inhabited for more then six hours.

It was just as you got outside, that you noticed how far away from home you really were.

“Well… I guess we gotta wait for the next bus.” You said smiling.

At that, Billie smiled, grabbed your arm, and pulled you into a passionate kiss. “The bus has never been this interesting.” He said huskily as he pulled away grinning.

5
-—I’m sorry if some of the following stuff rhymes too much and it annoys you (It‘s not THAT much), but what can I say, I’m a songwriter, it’s just what I do…-—

It was such an amazing night, you could barely go two seconds without smiling. Brittany and Sam were seriously creeped out by you. But you couldn’t help it, you had just spent the past ten most incredible hours with the most incredible gut you’d ever met. You went through the events over and over in your mind; When you and Billie thought it would be a good idea to write in permanent marker all over yourselves (From which you still hadn’t been able to wash off), and that kiss. Everything Billie had to say was astounding, he knew exactly who he was, exactly where he was going, and exactly what he wanted. You couldn’t even decide what you wanted to eat for lunch. But there was one thing you were sure of, you’d never felt like this before. Every word Billie had said was still ringing in your head. And the image of him staring at you as he described his perfect life, including a family, to which he would give everything and dedicate all of his life to, was still burnt clearly in your mind.

You never saw it happening, it wasn’t a flash of light that you could distinguish as being the moment you fell in love with Billie, it was an understanding feeling that you felt every time he looked you in the eyes. It was almost as if both your legs could break, but Billie’s gaze could hold you up and keep you standing. Your heart was placed on a clock, and you could feel it ticking every moment Billie was away. Love was a mystery to you, but you were desperate to come to a conclusion. Like a novel you couldn’t put down, you could never spend enough time with him. His heart was keeping time with yours, and eventually, they were ticking together.

And Billie must have felt the same way. When he looked at you, you could feel his eyes burning a whole through you into your soul.

However much it confuses you, you can’t help but appreciate the way Billie adores all the weird things you do.

For some reason he loved the way you twirled your hair in your fingers when you where embarrassed (which was often), and how you bit your lower lip when you couldn’t think of the right things to say. And you loved how he could find those words for you, and say them better then you could ever imagine. The time you spent together was more of a blur than anything else. You couldn’t really tell the difference between night and day anymore, seeing as how the hours you spent with Billie all blended together and eventually both of you were blind to anything and everything other then each other.

Perfection is boring. But you didn’t love Billie because he was perfect, he was filled with flaws. But the flaws are what made him beautiful.

And in your own dysfunctional way, Billie and you were completely in love, and had both found the one person with which, however un-perfect life was, made it worth living.

Until one day…
-—---—---—---—---—---—---—--

It was 9:47 am, and you were late. The band had a meeting with your new manager today, along with the CEO of Reprise, and of course you’re A & R man at the company, Adam. Today you were to go over all the songs on the new album, and determine what the first single would be. You were also going to be discussing the “look” of the band, which you were definitely not looking forward to.

The name of the band had finally been decided. Apparently the band‘s old name, The FCC FC SUCKS, was not catchy enough, and would cause problems with the distributors, seeing as how they were owned by the FCC. The new name of the band was Bad Absolution, a name you didn’t necessarily like right away, but was growing on you.

The meeting was supposed to be held at 9:30 am, but you were up late last night watching a South Park marathon with Billie. You woke up this morning and Brittany and Sam had already left.

“Thanks a lot, bitches,” You groaned to yourself as you struggled to get dressed.

By the time you got there, everyone was already in a deep conversation. As you walked in the conference room it got suddenly quiet. Everyone looked at you, and you couldn’t help but feel like they had just been discussing you. Adam shot you a cold look, and Brittany looked seriously uneasy. Sam didn’t even look up at you, she just stared at the table.

“Miss Ramone, so glad you decided to join us,” said Tim, the CEO of Reprise, with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

“Yeah… I’m really sorry about that, I must’ve slept in.” As you said this you glared at Sam and Brittany, who pretended not to notice.

“Hmm.. Well, let’s get started then.” He stated.

As you listened to the album song by song, all of you made comments here and there, but over-all, everyone liked it. Especially track 5, called “Bus Away the Day“, a song you wrote “loosely” about meeting Billie on the bus. Everyone loved that song, it had a bit of a Clash tinge to it, but was spoken from the heart and made you want to fall in love, with attitude. That was the single.

“It’s great, it’s your ticket to fame! Good work Sage!” Paul, your new manager, said with a huge smile.

“I agree, it just screams hit single!” said Tim.

Adam just nodded at you, then returned to talking on his cell phone.

“Now… We have something we need to discuss with you alone, Sage.” Said Paul, as he and Tim turned and stared at you. At that Adam finally got off his phone and began to stare at you also.

Brittany and Sam got up quicker then they’d ever moved, and practically ran out the door. You looked around in utter perplexity. Tim, Paul, and Adam were all looking at you expectedly.

“Sage… Brittany and Sam have confided some disturbing information to us, and they would like us to talk to you about it…” Tim said pretending to care, with fake compassion in his voice.

“Really,” You said, all of the sudden feeling like your stomach was falling.

They just gave you a look of disappointment.

6

“Really,” You said, all of the sudden feeling like your stomach was falling.

They just gave you a look of disappointment.

“Yes, well… Both of them have been feeling that you lack a certain amount of…commitment to the band lately,” said Tim, his eyes dripping with discontent. You glanced at Adam, and caught  him looking at you  with a sly grin showing in his features. Your ears must have been lying, there was no way you two best friends in the entire world would say something like that. You started this band. How the fuck could they say you lacked commitment; you wrote all the songs, sang all the lyrics, played guitar, and was the one who had to CONVINCE the other two that being a musician was even worth doing.

“WHAT?!” You almost yelled, in a whiney voice.

“Relax. Just hear us out for a second, it’s not as bad as your perceiving it to be,” Paul came to the rescue with. “It has been brought to our attention that your dating another artist at Reprise records, whose new album is also in the works.”

“What?… Wait, you mean Billie?” You almost cried, “Yeah, but what does that?..”

You were cut short by Adam, who seemed excited to finally tell you off, “Listen to me Sage, both you and Billie Joe have important albums in the works, and both of you have been slacking. As the official A & R person for both of your bands, I have come to the conclusion that you are going to have to keep your hormones in check and Billie will have to keep his excitement in his pants, because as of right now, your relationship is over.”

Your ears felt like they were bleeding. You looked around in complete disbelief. Tim, Paul, and Adam just sat there staring at you. Paul looked incredibly uncomfortable. You mouth hung open as looked from one to another, praying one of them would suddenly scream April Fool’s.

But they didn’t. You weren’t sure how much time had passed, but were brought back to life after feeling tears shed down your neck.

“No,” You said determined not to cry, “This has absolutely nothing to do with you.. Fuck you. This… This isn’t about the band. For once in my life, this is about me. For the first time in my life, I actually know what I want. I can breath… and I won’t let you take away my breathe. I won’t let you take away Billie.” You said this last statement with more confidence then you had throughout the whole meeting.

“Actually, Sage, it has everything to do with us. You need to understand that WE are paying for these albums, and if your little fling fucks it up, then WE’RE the ones hitchhiking back home, with nothing. We own you, you’re a product that we are putting on the market, so is Billie. Both of your careers, no, lives are riding on our shoulders. And unfortunately for you, both of you signed release forms giving the record company permission to do whatever needed to ensure top quality from our artists. And this relationship has seriously hurt both of your work lately. It may sound unfair, but breach the contract, and we have full ability to sue both of you, or worse, stop all recording and cut the albums. Do you want to be the reason both your bands end up with nothing? So swallow your pride, and do what’s right for everyone. End it.” Tim said much harsher than he’s sounded all morning.

This couldn’t be happening. It was completely unreal. You feel could your soul swelling as he finished his last statement. It was almost as if he reached inside you and tore away everything that held meaning. Everything that had worth was everything he was threatening to take away. You were completely trapped. Since the age of six, the only thing you ever desired was what you almost had. You were so close you could hear the radio playing your song, your name being called as a nominee for that Grammy you’ve dreamt of forever, and the sound of your fans screaming. But your desires had changed. Everything had changed. And Billie Joe had changed it. You always said, that when it comes down to it, you would do and give up anything for your music career. But for some reason, you actually found yourself questioning the very beliefs that had got you so far. Because when you started out with those beliefs, you weren’t in love. Things had changed. You put Billie Joe in your mind, and stood him next to the life you dreamt of for so long. You imagined yourself standing between them. Which one would you walk to. But it didn’t matter where you walked, it was always towards Billie Joe. Because all of the sudden that perfect life you envisioned for so long, just didn’t seem so perfect anymore. Not unless Billie was in it.

But you were brought back to life when you realized that not only your dream was on the line. Both yours and Billie Joe’s band mates had dreams riding on your shoulders. If you chose to stay with Billie, all the other people who had worked just as hard for that same thing, would lose it as well. Mike and Tre, though however great they were, would be beyond angry with Billie if he got the band’s album cut for a girl. At the moment you were more concerned with Billie’s band mate’s dreams then your own, because Tre and Mike were nothing but amazing towards you, and welcomed you like a sister. Yours, on the other hand, were bitches to Billie Joe, and were the reason this whole thing was taking place.

What could you do. If you chose to stay with Billie, you would be with the one person who made you feel complete. Made life feel complete. If you chose to go towards your dream, you would have the life-style that fit you better then any other. And you would also be enabling Mike and Tre to do the same thing. But you didn’t think that life-style, or any other for that matter, would be worth living without Billie.

But you couldn’t be that selfish, you could never live with yourself if you did. So you did the only thing you could do, that would be better for everyone else.

Tim was still staring at you. So were Paul and Adam. Paul looked incredibly empathetic. He stared at you with sad eyes and a faint smile. Adam, on the other had, looked more then a little annoyed that this was taking so long. He looked back and forth between you, his watch, and the door. Tim was completely monotone.

You turned your head towards him, and wiped away your tears. Then slowly, but surely nodded your head.

Tim smiled, and Adam stood up quickly. “I’ll speak to Billie Joe later today, but you need to get back to the studio and finish the radio edit of the last track on the album. Remember, just speaking to Billie would be a breach of contract, so don’t call him. I’ll inform you of his reactions.” Adam said, and with that, exited the room.

Tim and Paul stood up also, motioning towards the door. As you walked out you caught sight of Brittany and Sam sitting in the waiting area. Sam looked hopefully at you, but you brushed her off and kept walking. You were in no mood to speak to either of them. You left in a hurry, and quickly got in the limousine Reprise had provided for you to get to the studio. As you drove away you saw Brittany and Sam running out of the building, but you told the driver to keep on driving. They both got looks of pure regret upon their faces, then sadly turned away, and walked back in the building.

7

You cried the entire way to the studio. Your brain was telling you, you did the right thing, but your heart was screaming in protest.

When you finally arrived at the studio, you sat in the green room for hours, listening to the album from front to back. So much of it was written about Billie. Listening to it was like hearing the whole story of your relationship, without the ending. It was almost painful, and your heart ached when the song about meeting Billie on the bus played. Why did it have to happen. Why couldn’t Brittany and Sam be happy for you. They were your best friends, and they, of all people, should have supported you. But they didn’t. They were the reason you were alone again.

You weren’t sure how long you sat there, just staring at the wall. But eventually Brittany and Sam made it to the studio. They just walked in and stared at you from across the room. They both looked incredibly guilty. Sam probably more then Brittany.

Finally, one of them spoke.

“Sage… You have to understand,” Sam started, but you cut her off.

“Shut up. I don’t care why you did it. But know this, if this was supposed to make me more committed to this band, then you made a huge mistake. Because I’ve never been less committed then I am right now.” You said shortly.

At that Brittany finally said what it looked like she’d been trying to say all along. “Fuck you, Sage. You know that’s not true, you know it. Listen, we’re sorry it had to happen like this. We didn’t know they’d go as far as they did. But let’s face it, you’re spending WAY more time with him then you are with the band rehearsing, like you should be. It doesn’t matter though, so stop being such a pussy, and suck it up. Since when do you cry over boyfriends? Get a grip. Everything will work out. We’ll release this album, collect our fame and fortune, and you’ll find another guy who can make you scream just as loud, probably louder. So if you think about it, we did this for you.”

You couldn’t take anymore of this. The amount off hypocrisy in that room was making you sick. You held on to the tears desperately trying to escape, and gave both of them the coldest look imaginable. Then slowly turned around, put on your jacket, and left without another word. As you walked out, you simply said, “You’ll never understand, and for that, I’ll never forgive you.”
-—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—-—

You walked away in silence. The rest of the building was empty, almost everyone had left for the day. The few janitors that were still there barely acknowledged you as you passed, and you felt more invisible then ever before. You had no control over anything. There was a war taking place inside of you, and your heart was the battlefield. And then your pace quickened. You couldn’t walk slowly or else you’d probably fall down right on the spot. You walked faster and faster until you were almost running out of the building. You finally reached the revolving doors, but stopped before exiting through them. You glanced over to the spot where you first met Billie by the elevator. No one was standing there anymore. And that was it, you couldn’t contain your tears any longer, there was no way. They began streaming down your face, and for the first time in your life, you knew what it was like to truly hate someone with all your soul. Brittany and Sam were no best friends, they were now officially enemies. And you now officially hated them.

You ran out the doors, and began walking quickly down the sidewalk. You could barely see where you were going from all the tears. You just kept walking, assuming where ever you ended up would be better then home.

Just as you passed the side of the Reprise building, you felt someone grab you roughly and pull you into the ally.

You couldn’t see who it was, so you instantly began struggling to get free, and began hitting them as hard as possible out of instinct.

“Owe.. Hey, what the fuck… Sage! Sage! Stop it, God damn.”

You stopped hitting them immediately and wiped your eyes of the tears. As soon as you did, you saw Billie rubbing the spot where you hit him. He looked like he had been crying too. He looked at you and gave the tiniest glimpse of a smile, then went in for a tense hug, and held it for minutes.

“I don’t care. I don’t care what they say. I don’t care,” He whispered into your neck as you hugged. You kissed the spot beneath his ear, and pulled him tighter. Neither of you could let go, it was almost as if this was the last time you would ever see each other again. Billie finally loosened his grip on you and rested his forehead upon yours. He cupped your cheek with one hand, and had the other on the back of your neck, clutching onto your hair. You wrapped your arms around his neck, and closed your eyes, listening to him breathing.

“Sage, don’t cry. Please don’t cry… Listen, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.” He said as he looked deep into your eyes. He swooped in for a gentle kiss, and held it there. But you suddenly pulled away.

“How can you say that? How? ..” You stuttered through tears, “It does matter. And it’s all my fault. My friends… MY friends.. Or whatever the fuck they call themselves.. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe they’d do something like this…”

“Hey, hey… They don’t matter. They can’t understand, so don’t expect them to.” Billie said, obviously trying hard not to curse their names.

His words comforted your bruised heart. They always did. Billie looked lost. He looked as if he’d been wondering the streets of Berkeley for hours. He was sweaty. His shirt was dirty, and his eyes were sunken in. You’d never seen Billie Joe like this before, his appearance made you even more nervous. What had he decided? What did he tell Adam?…

Then he answered your question.

“I chose you,” He said quietly, with a hint of desperation in his voice.

“Wh- what?… why? What about your album, what about Mike and Tre?” You choked out.

“They gave me their permission. I can’t live, if I can’t live with you.” The way he spoke made you shiver, Billie Joe had never sounded so vulnerable. He just looked at you, waiting for you to speak.

“I… I love you,” Was all you could say, then pulled him to you, and kissed him deeply. You rested your lips upon his, and he held you as if his life depended on that very kiss. You could feel tears on your cheek, and realized that Billie had let go of his pain. That triggered your heart, and you pulled away, and said in the most adoring voice, “I chose you, too.”

He smiled, and ran his hand along the outline of you lips, up to your eyes. Then he kissed you, and the bond you felt was so strong, one million missiles couldn’t break it. This was right. Nothing else mattered anymore. The band. The fame. Nothing. Billie Joe was your world, and without him, you’d have no where to go. Billie Joe was home, and you would never run away again.

8
You were in a permanent state of two worlds pulling at you. You had told Billie Joe you chose him. But you hadn‘t. Your body was being pulled in two parts, and given away to the highest bidder. All you wanted was for Billie Joe to be happy, to live again. You would do anything for him. That’s why you chose to let him go on without you. You thought that was right. But you were wrong. Now you had to fix this. You were gonna give up an old dream, for a new one. For Billie Joe.

As you walked to the Reprise building, you realized this was the last time you would walk through those doors as a Reprise artist. You had made your decision, and life wasn’t worth living without him. You were about to dive into the deep end, for Billie, because you loved him, and he had become your best friend.

“Hi. I have an appointment to see Tim Marsh.” You said to the secretary.

“Have a seat, please. He’ll be here in a couple minutes.”

“Okay. Thank You.” You said, and sat down in the waiting area.

Suddenly Sam burst through the glass doors, and ran over to you.

“Sage! Sage, you can’t do this. You can’t. Just think about it for a second. It’s not only your dream. It’s all of ours, and your being selfish…” She said through gasps trying to get air running through her body again.

“I’m selfish? Do you realize that the moment I find what I’ve been looking for, you take it away so you can make more of a profit,” You said looking at her with disgust, “And I’m being selfish? This is a band, this is a job. But Billie and I are in love. He loves me.  And not because I can help him become a rock-star, but because I am me. And that’s all I’ll ever need.”

“Sage, you don’t mean that. Remember when we were nine and we decided that this was going to be our life. This was what we were going to dedicate our lives to. This whole thing was your idea, you convinced us. And it is selfish to leave this late in the game. We’re so close, and your just gonna quit? How can you do that.?” She said.

“Why did it matter if I was with Billie? Why couldn’t you just be happy for me? That’s the least I would have done for you,” You said, looking at her in confusion. “That’s what a real friend should have done.”

She just looked at you, with a guilty look on her face.

“I’m sorry, Sage,” she said, looking down at her feet. You couldn’t believe it. She actually expected you to forgive her. That was not going to happen. But as you watched her face, you began to feel sorry for her. Then she said something that stopped you from turning around, and walking away.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me. And I’m not going to blame this on Brittany. It was me just as much as her. But whether you like it or not, your still my best friend. Not that that should make a difference…”

You appreciated how honest she was being, but she was right, you still hadn’t changed your mind. But then you saw Mike and Tre walking down the hall towards the elevator. They were carrying a box full of stuff that must have been in the studio, and a couple guitars as well. They looked pretty depressed. You side-stepped Sam and walked quickly over to where they were standing. They smiled as they saw you walking towards them, and greeted you with big bear hugs each.

“What are you doing,” you asked, looking at all the stuff they were carrying.

“Oh… Billie didn’t tell you?” Mike said, the smile suddenly wiped off his face.

“What, they actually dropped you guys?” You asked, praying you were wrong.

“Yeah, they dropped us from the label and cut the album.” Tre said.

“NO! But that’s so ridiculous! Look, I’ll go in there and fix it right away.” you said, turning to go talk to Tim, like you had originally intended. But you were stopped by both Mike and Tre, who quickly grabbed your arm.

“Sage, don’t. Billie is like our brother, and we’d do anything for him. He loves you so much… We’ll just start from scratch at another label. But you can’t leave him, he’ll be crushed. This is for the best, anyway,” Mike said desperately trying to hold you back as you struggled to get free.

“This is so fucked up,” you gasped as you pulled yourself free of their grasp.

They looked at you in agreement. There’s no way you were gonna let this happen. Those guys had worked so hard, and you were gonna take it all away for your own selfish reasons. No way.

Then you got an idea.

“Maybe we could make this work,” you said, going over the details in your mind.

“How?” Tre said.

“Ummm…” You looked over to your right. There was Reprise staff members everywhere. “Let’s go, I’ll tell you when we’re out of listening distance.” You said, motioning towards all the people eavesdropping on you.

They nodded, and the three of you got on the elevator to leave the building.
-—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—-

You guys finally arrived at the apartment, and when you walked in you saw Billie on the couch watching the tube. When he looked up and saw you, he immediately got up and hugged you tightly.

“Sage. What are you doing here?” He said into your ear as you hugged.

“I have to talk to you.” You said, pulling away, and looking seriously into his eyes. He suddenly got a look of worry on his face, but you deterred that by kissing him on the lips. You held on, and he put his hands on the side of your face. “It’s not bad, I promise,” you said into his mouth, and he sighed in relief.

He led you into his room to talk, leaving Tre and Mike in the other room. As soon as you closed the door behind you, Billie Joe pulled you to him and kissed you passionately. He bit your lower lip, slid his tongue into your mouth, and began messaging your tongue with his. The kiss was sloppy and wet, but romantic all the same. As the kissing got heavier and heavier, he put his hands on your hips, and pulled your body closer to his. You draped your arms around his neck, and he pulled away from the kiss.

“You needed to talk to me about something,” He said completely out of breath, with a slight grin on his face.

“Oh.. Yeah,” you said struggling to remember what you were going to say. As you attempted to speak, he turned his attention to your neck, and began sliding kisses down and around, then all over your collar bone. This tickled you, and you giggled as he spoke against your skin.

“Soo…. Proceed, will you. I’m waiting….” he spoke with a grin on his face, but didn’t stop kissing you.

“Billie..” You said, desperately trying not to laugh. His lips were soft and wet, and elated you immensely. “Stop for a second, so we can talk.” But he just kept on going.

“I’m listening,” He said, and you could tell he was still grinning.

So you just continued with his lips kissing trails around your collar bone, and tracing their way back up your neck. “I-I saw Tre and Mike clearing out the studio… I, and, well… I don’t think it’s right for me to make you give up your dream… I mean, you and Tre and Mike.. You guys worked so hard to get this deal, and make that album, I’m being selfish and I couldn’t live with myself if I did that to you guys… I just couldn’t…”

This stopped him in his tracks.

He looked at you in alarm. “What do mean? I did it because I love you, and they understand that.” He said.

“I know… But I love you too. Which is why I refuse to let you choose me over your dream.” You said.

“But you are my-”

“Billie,” You cut him off, “You can have both..”

He obviously liked the sound of that. He looked at you excitedly. “What do you mean?” He asked.

“I mean, how the fuck is the label going to know if we’re still dating or not?” you said. He looked confused for a couple seconds, then smiled. “We could keep it a secret, no one has to know but us,” You went on, “I mean, except Mike and Tre, if you want…”

“Seriously? But how-” Billie said, but you answered his question for him.

“I’ll just tell the label that I broke it off, and you can apologize. They have to take you guys back, you’re their best band. And your album has already done well on Sound Scan, so they’d be fucking idiots not to re-sign you.” You said.

He contemplated his choices in his mind, then asked, “But eventually their gonna find out, we can’t keep it a secret forever. And if your little friends find out, their sure to fuck it up again.”

This was true, but you had a feeling about Billie’s album. If it did as well as you suspected it would, Reprise wouldn’t let go of them if they spit in their faces, and kicked them in the balls. But he was right about Brittany and Sam. If they found out, they would definitely screw it up again. So you would just have to keep this secret as quiet as possible. But it was worth it. One day, maybe, Billie Joe and you could live a normal life, but for now, this was the best solution.

“I love you.. But this is the only way we can be together, because I won’t let you let go of your dream…” You said lovingly.

Billie Joe smiled, obviously flattered that you cared enough about him to give him everything he ever wanted. Then he leaned over and kissed you gently on the lips. You closed your eyes and blushed as he ran his hands down from your cheeks, to your lower back, and pulled you onto him. He kissed you deeper and deeper until you suddenly pulled away. “Soo… What do you say?” You asked.

He grinned and said, “I’ll do it. But only until both our bands are stable enough for us to be honest. I don’t think I can pretend not to love you for very long.”
9
Having this big of a secret was actually pretty fun. The two of you felt all dangerous. It’s not like you guys were doing anything illegal, but it was amusing to run around with each other hoping not to get caught. You had to sneak Billie in and out of your apartment, and Brittany and Sam never suspected a thing.

They were under the impression you had just gotten over what had happened. You pretended to be okay around them, but still acted minorly depressed about Billie, so they wouldn’t be suspicious.

But you were actually having the time of your life. Everything was so much more exciting seeing as how you weren’t supposed to be doing it. It was like breaking the rules at school, but so much better.

The only people who knew about Billie and you, were Mike and Tre. They were so thrilled when they found out that they still got to release the album. And they were actually great at keeping the secret. Like the time you were visiting Billie Joe in the studio, and Adam decided to drop by. They shoved you underneath the mixing table, and moved chairs and boxes in front of you, so Adam saw nothing. It was cramped, but still exciting…

And things went on like this for along time. You had voiced how much fun you were having, but after a few months Billie was tired of hiding his love.  Every time the two of you bumped into each other you had to pretend to be bitter about having broken up. But you could tell he was not having as much fun as you were.

One day you were walking out of Tim’s office, and ran strait into Billie Joe. Out of instinct, he laughed and was on the verge of pulling you into a kiss, when you noticed Tim was still watching. You pushed him away roughly, and laughed off the situation. Tim looked a little confused, but went back to his work any how. But Billie looked insanely angry. He did not like having to hide his affection, and especially didn’t like it when guys hit on you, and he couldn’t say or do anything.

Matters just got worse one night, when Brittany and Sam set you up on a date without you knowing. The guy’s name was Forrest, and he was apparently good friends with Tim Marsh, and of course, Adam. This ended any hopes you had of turning it down. It would be suspicious if you refused to date anyone. Billie Joe was understandably, incredibly pissed off.

“No fucking way,” He said, looking at you in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’d even ask me that.”

“Billie, listen. If I don’t go on a date sometime, they’re gonna think I an attic recluse, or something. Either that, or still dating you… I mean, how many people mourn over a fallen relationship for seven months. That’s gotta be a record, or something…” You said, pleading in your heart that he wouldn’t freak out.

Luckily, he didn’t. He did worse.

“Fine,” He said, “But I’m going with you.”

“You’re going with me on a date?” You said looking at him in shock.

“I won’t go WITH you, I’ll bump INTO you.”

You thought about this for a second. He could just happen to be in the same place, and you being a good person, would graciously invite him to join you. Yeah… That would work.
-—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—-—

Forrest was going to meet you at a trendy Japanese restaurant downtown. And Billie was gonna meet at the same place… On accident…

When you and Billie arrived, he decided to wait outside for a while, so it didn’t look like you came together. The restaurant was so beautiful. But you felt a little uncomfortable, like you were an alien who had randomly decided to land in the middle of a suburb. Everyone was so classy. And all of them were wearing gorgeous clothing. You were wearing baggy jeans and a band tee. Then you spotted Forrest. But he wasn’t alone. Apparently he brought someone to bump into also.

Adam was sitting at the table with him, drinking a Vodka Tonic, and smoking a cigarette. As you walked up to them, Forrest stood up to introduce himself, and Adam just flashed you a fake smile.

“Hi..” You said back, trying not to be annoyed that Adam was there.

As you sat down, you wondered where Billie Joe was. And even when he came, what would he do when he saw Adam? Or better yet, what would Adam do? You pondered this for a couple more minutes, completely tuning out Forrest and his detailed description of Vermont during the fall. Then you saw Billie walking in. He smiled widely at you, which made you blush.  But got a slight look of confusion when he caught sight of Adam. He recovered quickly though, and walked strait over to Adam smiling.

“Billie!” Adam said with fake enthusiasm.

“Hey,” He replied, pretending not to notice you. The two of them immediately engaged in a conversation about the radio mix of the first single. Then Billie turned, and acted completely surprised when he saw you.

“Sage?!” He said, flashing you a grin, “Hey, how are you?” He asked, still grinning.

“Fine.” you said, still in shock from how amazing he was at lying. “Thi-this is Forrest…”

They shook hands, and Forrest looked happy to meet one of your friends.

“Nice to meet you! Hey… Think you might wanna join us?” Forrest said.

“Love to!” Billie said, obviously pleased with himself.

As he sat down beside you, he briefly rubbed your thigh, then quickly pulled his hand away when he noticed that Adam was watching. Billie got along with  Forrest great. But Adam seemed more and more suspicious as the night progressed. He looked back and forth between you and Billie Joe for over an hour. But you couldn’t blame him, it was kind of obvious. As Billie drank, he became a lot more forward. He continuously flashed you sly grins, and had his hands permanently on you. He was a little drunk, but you had a feeling he knew what he was doing.

After a couple hours of just talking, and Billie groping you underneath the table, you were very tired. But Billie Joe definitely was not. His hand slid slowly from your knee, to your inner thigh. You pushed him away instantaneously, but that hadn’t stopped him before. It was really erotic, like two and half strait hours of foreplay. And Billie Joe probably felt the same way.

As Forrest and Adam were involved in a deep conversation, he quickly whispered to you, “Meet me in the bathroom in five minutes”

Then he announced to everyone that he had to go, and how nice it was to meet Forrest. And as he walked away, turned and winked at you.

You blushed. He always knew how to give you butterflies.

Five minutes later, you excused yourself from the table. As you walked towards the bathroom, you wondered which bathroom it was he meant. He answered that for you. Neither. He grabbed your arm, and pulled you into him, then spun you around and shoved you against the wall next to the payphone. He pushed his mouth against yours, and coaxed your mouth open with his tongue. You guys were going at it, hard. He put his hand on your waist, and slowly began messaging his way up towards your chest. You released a quick moan into his mouth, and he groaned loudly as he pushed his lower body up against yours. Then as your kissing started slowing down, he pulled away, and began placing kisses slowly down your neck. He was breathing really hard and very quickly. As he kissed his was down your neck to your collar bone, you threw your head back, and arched your back. When you did that, you accidentally pushed your body hard against his, which caused him to groan louder then before.

Then, from a distance, you heard Adam talking on his cell phone, and he was coming closer.

You threw Billie off of you immediately. So hard, it fact, his back hit the other side of the hallway with a loud “thud”.  He looked at you in horror, completely confused as to why you violently pushed him off you. Then he realized why. No less then a second after you pushed Billie Joe off, Adam turned the corner and walked right into him.

“Owe- What the fuck… Billie?!!”, Then Adam caught sight of Billie, with his hair messed up and some of your lip gloss on his lip, and then he saw you. He looked you up and down, then gave both of you a look of pure abhorrence. “I thought you left?,” He said, turning his attention to Billie Joe.

“I…ah, I did, but then… Well,” Billie was stuttering left and right, and you’d never seen him so discomfited. He looked extremely nervous, and kept shooting you a look that screamed “HELP ME”. You didn’t know what to do, so you sat there with a blank look on your face. Adam never looked so suspicious. He kept looking you up and down, then glancing at Billie Joe. Then his phone suddenly rang. He turned away and began talking hurriedly, but kept looking back at you and Billie.

You noticed that Billie Joe had turned completely white, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of yours. Adam looked annoyed when he finally hung up, and turned to the two of you, saying, “Well, I have to go. But we need to talk. I’ll be contacting both of you to inform you of  when we’ll be meeting.” But before he left, he turned and stared at Billie. “And I will deal with you separately. We have a lot to talk about.” He said quietly. By now, Billie looked as if he was about to throw up. Adam was staring at him, and vice versa. They stood there for a couple more seconds, then Adam turned, and walked away. You wondered to yourself what it was that he needed to talk to Billie about without you. I mean, you half of the problem, right?

After Adam left, the two of you sat in silence for a couple minutes. Could Adam know? Would he rat the two of you out? You had no idea how to react to the past experience. Finally, Billie straitened up, and walked over to you silently. He just kissed you gently, then pulled away, and grabbed your hand. He held it with both of his, and messaged it slowly. Then he looked up said, “Whatever happens, I love you. Just don’t hurt. Because I never wanted to be the cause for that.”

This confused you immensely. Why would he have hurt you? He just stared in your eyes. Then without another word, he walked away, pulling you with him, your hand still in his.

10
The two of you left the restaurant without another word. When you got out to the table, you noticed that Forrest had left with Adam. Some date that was. You and Billie were silent the entire ride home. Then as you pulled up to your apartment, you began getting out, when Billie pulled you back in.

“Do you have to go?.. I mean.. Can you stay with me tonight?” He said weakly. “I just need to be near you tonight…”

The tone of his voice could have brought you to tears. “Yeah Billie, I’ll stay with you.” At that he pulled you to him, and embraced you with a hug. He rested his cheek on yours, and he stroked the spot where your neck meets your collar bone.

That night, you and Billie did not kiss. You barely even spoke. He just held you close to him all night long. You weren’t even sure if he slept. When you woke up in the morning, he was sitting in the chair in front of the bed, just staring at the ground. He had his right hand in his hair, and looked like he was attempting to pull it out. When he noticed you had woken up, his look of worry quickly morphed into a look of love.

“Morning Gorgeous..” He said. You blushed slightly, then stood up and walked over to where he was sitting. You sat down beside him on the ground, and looked up at him. He smiled at you, then grabbed your hand and began massaging it once again.

“Are you okay, Billie?” You said finally.

“Yeah.. I-I just , I want you to remember this, okay? I want you to think of all the amazing times, and every moment we’ve spent together. Just promise not to forget. Promise, okay?” He said.

“What is wrong with you, of course I won’t forget, why would I? Billie, tell me what’s going on, why are you acting like this?”

“Never mind… I have to go, I love you,” He said, leaned down, and kissed your forehead.

“No! Billie, I won’t let you go, why are you acting like this? Tell me- Tell me what’s going on. Why won’t you talk to me, you’ve barely said anything since last night. Just tell me.” You said desperately.

“Don’t be mad, Please- Please don’t be mad. I love you, I love you so much- Just promise me you won’t cry. Promise.” He said, putting his fingers over your mouth.

You pulled his hand off, and cried “Why? Why- What’s wrong? Just tell me-”

But he cut you off. “I love you, but I have to go. Just stay here, I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

And with that, he kissed you quickly, then turned and walked out the door. When he left, he left you in tears. You stood there staring a the door, completely unaware that he was doing the same thing on the other side.
-—---—---—---—---—---—---—---—--

Billie Joe had left an hour ago, and you were just sitting in his room staring into the nothing, when your cell rang. You reached into your pocket, and saw that it was Sam.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Sage!” She said, obviously trying way too hard to be nice. Ever since your last fight, you, Sam, and Brittany were not really as close, but at least Sam made an effort to be pleasant. Brittany and you barely spoke, except when she criticized your latest songs. The two of you used Sam as a messenger more then anything else. But Sam was more then happy to do it, she seemed desperate to put the band back the way it used to be. She was constantly coming up with things for you guys to do together that would strengthen your friendship. But her attempts fell short, and she failed miserably. Whenever the three of you were in the same room, it started off fine, then Brittany would make some smart ass comment on your songwriting. Lately, she seemed to like saying that your songwriting skills were going down the shit- hole. Thanks a lot.. That would escalate all the way to the point to where the two of you were about to engage in a fist fight. Sam would break it up, and an hour later, you’d all act like nothing happened.

“So what do you need?” You asked.

“I was just wondering when you were coming back, Brittany wants to have rehearsal and she’s getting pissed.. Where are you, anyways?” Sam said.

“Oh.. I-a.. I’m at the studio,” You lied, “I must’ve fallen asleep last night while working on some new material..”

“Your at the studio? Oh, that’s great! I left my bass there, can you bring it with you on your way home?” She asked.

“Uh.. Yeah, okay,” You sighed. Great, now you had to go all the way to the studio to get her bass.

“Okay, Thanks. See you in a few.” Sam said, then hung up.

You did the same, then decided to get going. You got dressed, and fixed yourself up a bit, then headed out to the studio. When you got up to the floor your studio was on, you heard someone yelling in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from the mixing room. You didn’t want to eavesdrop, but the mixing room was right next to your studio. You walked by as silently as possible, hoping you could just grab the guitar, and get the hell out of there. But as you walked by, you heard something that interested you.

“You fucked everything up. You had one job, and you couldn’t even fucking do that. I can’t believe you’d do this to me. When this whole

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