She. [Billie Joe Armstrong]

Know Your Enemy

A/N: This is the last of this book, I'm going to probably make an epilogue at some point because although this is where it needs to end, there's more I want to say. So I'll try to get it done sometime soon. Also, sorry this is so short, it's literally just a conversation that takes place.

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"Billie, I've been through a lot and I think I'm ready to say that I only wanna be with you."

No, that was stupid. I looked in the mirror again and realized that there was no good way to say it. When I saw Billie later, I would just have to be normal about it. It wasn't a huge ordeal, and I had no intention of making it an ordeal. I just had to let him know that I didn't want to leave him.

He would be relieved, I was sure of it. The only problem I could think of was the fact that I had just spent a decent amount of time with Gabe, pretending that Billie didn't exist and now I was going to pretend that hadn't happened. There was an issue there. Maybe I wasn't as committed to Billie as I thought I was. Truth be told, I enjoyed spending time with Gabe. 

Hopefully Billie wouldn't ask too many questions about it. I mentally kicked myself for wishing such ignorance upon him but I knew how he was, and there was no way he'd be okay with what happened. Gabe wasn't a villain, but he wasn't a good guy either. Knowing Billie, he would probably try to beat the heck out of him, which is why it was better he never knew.

 I pulled my hair into an ugly ponytail and sighed at my reflection. Why was I always giving my time to such stupid guys? Why was I so stupid? Why did it have to be like this?

I shook my head and exited the bathroom. I was fully aware that Billie was stupid, but I loved him and there was nothing that would make me feel differently about him. The fact that he still spoke to me after I had come onto his friend not only confirmed the fact that he was a massive idiot, but also that he was going to stick around. I needed someone like that.

I made my way to the park where he agreed to meet and listened to my headphones the whole way there. The park was large and there was a decent amount of people wandering around the area. That was reassuring because I wouldn't want anything to go wrong if he decided he didn't forgive me after all. I just always felt safer when there were crowds of onlookers. 

Billie showed up, expressionless. I hoped he was okay. He didn't seem upset, but there was something about the way his eyes looked that lead me to believe he wasn't completely happy. As he scanned the crowd, I could tell when he saw me. His mouth twitched into a forced smile and he walked my way.

"Hey, Avery," He tried to say. I could hear that his voice was hoarse like he hadn't said much in a while. He cleared his throat and then sat on the bench of the picnic table next to me.

"Hey," I said back, quietly.

"So I know you wanted to talk to me about something but I was really hoping I could go first," he said.

"Uh, sure."

"Yeah, okay." He wiped his hands on his jeans, I assumed they were sweating. "So I realized something when you were gone for so long - when I thought you were gone for good." I nodded. "And it was that I'm not ready to lose you. Not now, not ever."

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"I think I want to be with you forever."

"You what?"

Billie turned red. "Sorry, it's stupid. It's weird."

"It's not, I just... I was going to tell you the same thing."

"You were?" Billie looked relieved.

"Yeah," I breathed. "I don't know how to be without you."

"You don't have to," he said. "You can come stay with me."

"I don't think my dad-"

"Screw him. He's terrible for you. I can help you."

"Right," I looked at my shoes. They were ugly.

"So come with me now."

"Sure." 

That was it.