Flower in the Flame (The Scattered Series - Book #1)

Chapter Twenty One

21 | Nadia Spencer

After a whole morning of pouting and puppy eyes, I convinced Billie to come to the beach. I'd been invited by Fallon, she sent me a message which ended in far too many emojis and I'd of course said yes. Saying yes had been easy, convincing Billie had been a little harder.

"Sweetheart," I say as I squirt a dollop of sunscreen into my palm before rubbing it into my leg. Billie is watching me like a lion would a gazelle. "are you sure you don't want any?" I shake the bottle in his direction, "you should really put some on. It's going to be hot."

Billie Joe Armstrong, impossibly stubborn, crosses his arms over his chest. "I've already told you, I don't burn." I'm almost sure that's a lie.

"Whatever you say," I hum, "and, by the way, I invited Ben."

He stifles a groan that comes out low and hoarse, and I feel the noise to my core. I think there's something wrong with me, because almost everything he does turns me on.

"Why would you invite that fool? All he's going to do is gawk over my sister and Juniper." In all fairness to Ben, Fallon and Juniper are gorgeous.

Fallon has long, needle straight blonde hair which falls to her middle back. Her skin is an ivory that lights up when she smiles, which is basically all the time.

And Juniper? I've heard stories about her and Tré. How Tré was absolutely infatuated by her. Her attitude alone is enough to make me see why he completely lost every ounce of his self control. She's the embodiment of calm confidence. She walks with her chin held high, takes shit from no one, and she carries herself with great pride. Tré is a fool for Juniper, and I see why.

"So," Billie shucks off his t-shirt, now straying from our sunscreen conversation. And I don't mind, because, god, he is gorgeous. "What's in it for me? Since I hate the beach." He asks, raising his brows in my direction as I lay back on the bed.

I shrug, watching him with careful concentration, "a day of fun, my love."

Billie Joe's nose scrunches, though he doesn't reply as he kneels to shuffle through his drawers for a clean t-shirt. Hunched over, the muscles in his back shift as he searches through the drawers.

"Bills," I murmur as I sit up, clucking my tongue from the roof of my mouth. He turns to look at me, lips parted. My breath catches in my throat. Long lashes peck the circles of tiredness under his eyes, his eyes are half-lidded and tired, and his skin is flushing redder by the second.

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I'm breathless, only able to lose myself in those bottle-green eyes.

Billie must feel it too, the feeling of drowning, helplessness. Love.

"I love you," I force out.

He smiles. Blushes. "I love you too." And then, in a pathetic effort to distract me from his flushed cheeks, Billie Joe tosses a dirty t-shirt at me.

It lands on my head, drapes down into my face. Giggling, I tug it off, discard it on the floor as I get up. "You're such an asshole."

"You love it," He grins.

I sit down beside him, pull out a brown and white stripy shirt from his drawer and hand it to him. "I guess I do."

∘°∘♡∘°∘

"You have my brother whipped," Fallon says as she watches the guys in the water. Billie must have annoyed Mike, because Mike has him by the ear and is telling him to apologise. Billie tells him to get fucked. Mike dunks Billie's head underwater.

I giggle a little, sparing a glance in Fallon's direction. She has her hair pulled into what was once a sleek bun, but Tré had seen to messing that up. When she and Mike arrived, Tré had convinced them to come and see a crab. There was no crab, and Fallon ended up soaked. Now stray blonde hairs hang around her face and her bun looks a little sad.

"I wouldn't say whipped..." I mumble, "it took a helluva lot of convincing to get him to come to the beach."

Juniper laughs, a soft and airy tone, "so a helluva lot of dick sucking,"

I choke on my drink, "no! Just... whining."

Fallon makes a face, her nose crinkling, "ew," she whispers to herself, and then louder, "anyways, Billie Joe is whipped. And not like he was with Madeline, he was terrified of her. He likes you, Nadia, a lot." My cheeks heat by 100 degrees. Hearing that from Billie Joe's sister truly meant a lot.

Though Fallon said this, it didn't escape my notice that Mike and Tré were totally whipped too. It took one stern look from Fallon and Mike would fall in line, and whenever we went out Tré was forever checking if Juniper was comfortable and if she wanted another drink. Who knew Green Day were such sappy losers?

"I'll prove it to you," Fallon says as she stands up, "watch this." She grabs my hand before she begins to yell, startling me and everyone else on the beach, "Nadia! Are you okay? Quick, June, get the first aid kit!"

Juniper plays along perfectly, "I can't find it," She yells back as she searches through the bags we have.

Within a few short moments, Billie is out the water and at my side. He's soaked, droplets from his hair landing on me as he practically shoves his sister out the way to check me over. "Nadia," He cups my cheeks, "what is it? Whats going on?" Panic laces his tone as he looks to Fallon and Juniper expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

When Fallon bursts into a fit of giggles, Billie's concern turns into irritation. He huffs as he sits down beside me on the towel and wraps an arm around my shoulders, "ha ha, very funny." He mutters.

Mike, Tré, and Ben leave the water, each sitting down until we've formed a big circle. Mike slings his arm around Fallon and pulls her in close, "causing trouble again, sunshine?"

Fallon shakes her head, her lips curled in a wolfish grin, "never." She leans into Mike's touch, her hand covering one of the thick scars on his belly. She didn't even have to look, it was as if she covered it out of instinct.

"I want ice cream," I announce as I get up, Billie stands too. We get everyone's orders, as no one else seemed like they could be bothered to move. Tré wanted rum and raisin, Juniper wanted raspberry sorbet, Mike and Fallon both went for salted caramel, and Ben went for a double scoop of chocolate – of course.

The walk to the ice cream shack isn't far, and Billie indulges me in quiet conversation as we walk. He tells me about how he hates the sand, that he's gonna be cleaning sand out of his car for the next year, he tells me about how his favourite flavour of ice cream has always been white chocolate and raspberry, he tells me one day he'll marry me on a beach like this one. He does most the talking, but I listen with my most careful concentration, my head leant against his shoulder.

"Nadia," He murmurs, "you're the last girl who I will ever love. This is it," He kisses my head, gently rubs my arm, "I can finally feel at ease, knowing I'm loved by Nadia Spencer."

He's always had a way with words, which makes my stomach churn in the most delightful way. The only problem? I've never been poetic, I've never been able to murmur gentle words.

"I love you, Billie Joe," is what I settle for, and he smiles, the kind of smile that twinkles in the green of his eyes.

"I love you, Nadia." His cheeks are pink, that familiar blush betraying him.

We order the ice cream, and carrying it back is a pain in the ass, especially since Billie insisted on carrying the most. Once we get back, we dish out the ice cream and sit down on the towel together. I try some of Billie's, and he tries some of mine.

Everyone is quiet, the beach nearly empty now as the sun begins it's lazy journey south. A warm light is casted on the sea, reflects onto the sand. It's like paradise.

"You guys," Fallon says, I glance over. Her soft features catch the light perfectly, Mike is watching her like she might disappear at any moment, like what she's about to say is going to change the world. "You all make me really happy."

Mike smiles, musses with her ruined hair, "you make us happy too, sunshine."

I can't help but smile, Billie Joe kisses my head, "I love you," I feel him mouth against my forehead. Gently, I take his hand, give it a little squeeze, because I love him too.