Only of You

Westbound Sign

The drivers parked the cab in the driveway of the brown house and Billie handed him a wad of money.

"Good luck," Joey said right before he closed the door.

"Thanks." Billie waved goodbye and knew that he would never see Joey again.

Billie put his suitcase in front of the garage door and grabbed the bunch of roses right before walking to the front door.

Knock, knock.

A man that looked about Ollie's age answered the door with a confused and scared look on his face.

"Hi, sir." Billie held out his hand so he could introduce himself but he waved it away.

"What's your name boy?" He looked confused and pointed to the bundle of roses that he held under his arm.

"Billie, nice to meet you." He held out his hand again, but he just kept waving it away.

The man stepped outside onto he front step and closed the door behind him.

"Can I help you with something?" He now folded his arms and looked down at Billie. He had to be at least a foot taller than Billie, and he had the muscles of a body builder.

"I'm coming for Adrienne, she didn't mention me?" Billie's eyes started to water, but he knew if he cried things would just get worse.

"What do you want with my daughter?" His face seemed to warm up a bit as he put the pieces together.

"Sir, I believe that I am in love with her." The want to cry was no longer a problem as it was only excitement that he could feel.

"Wait right here." He left Billie stranded on their front porch as he called for Adrienne in their house.

Billie could hear their muffled voices as he stood nervously outside the door, his hands making the plastic wrap around the roses clammy and wet.

Adrienne ripped off the door off the hinges and fell into Billie's arms. Billie hugged her tighter than a vice as Adrienne let out tears.

"I love you." She whispered into his ear and he hugged her tighter, but he never wanted to let go.

Billie told her his crazy journey to Minnesota as they sat in her living room. Adrienne put the roses in a vase and sat next to Billie on the sofa.

Adrienne's house was enormous, her dad was a lawyer and her mom was a surgeon. Billie learned that her dad's name is Andy, and he apologized for his rudeness earlier. Adrienne's mom introduced herself as Taylor, and the first thing that she did was give Billie a hug.

They asked Billie questions pretty much about everything, starting with "do your parents know you're here?" They asked about where he went to high school, his family, his friends, his tattoos, his intentions, and everything else they could possibly think of.

Billie told them about his large family, and his single mother, his addiction and why he went to rehab, how he didn't have many friends but he was working on it, how he just joined a band, and why he came all the way out here for Adrienne.

"That's a long flight for such a young man like yourself to take alone." Taylor said as she handed him a cup of tea. Billie didn't like tea, he actually hated it, but he politely sipped on it as the rest of them did.

Billie looked incredibly out of place in his punk appearance in their fancied living room.

"Do you have a hotel room, or do you plan on staying with us for a couple of days?" Billie choked on his tea as soon as her dad spat out the question.

In reality, he planned on leaving with her almost immediately, but through all the conversation he forgot what his intentions of coming here were.

"Funny you should mention, actually. The reason I came out here was to invite Adrienne to live with me." Billie held Adrienne's hand in his and she squeezed his right after he stopped talking.

"Aren't you only seventeen?" Andy set his tea down and folded his arms, as the typical dad in movies do when awkward situations like this come around.

"I'm eighteen next month, and I am supposed to be moving out right now." Billie started to shake as he nerves began to grow. Adrienne held his hand between both of hers and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"We'll be fine, dad. You and mom are never here anyway." Adrienne said at her parents lightly and they shrugged as they exchanged glances.

"You're right, so be it." Taylor said as she gave Adrienne a hug. They didn't look like a very happy family.

"Thank you." Billie said as he hugged each of her parents. "Ill take good care of her, don't you worry." Andy pat Billie's back hard with his huge hand and Billie cringed through the long hug.

"I'll go pack?" Adrienne said as she disappeared up the stairs.

"I'll make some dinner before you guys take off." Taylor scurried off to the kitchen and started banging dishes around and pushing buttons on the oven.

Billie stayed on the sofa as he dad sat across the room in an armchair. The silence grew longer and longer, waiting to be broken.

"I like you Billie, don't disappoint me." Andy said as he pushed himself up off the chair and walked into the kitchen.

Billie wandered up the stairs and called Adrienne's name and followed her voice to her room.

"Cute room." Billie said as he plopped down onto her bed, which was matching pink to the rest of her pink bedroom. Pink everything, dresser, rug, curtains, and even the picture frames that hung on the pink walls.

"Thanks, I usually sleep in my room. This is my sisters'."

Billie shrugged and offered to help her back but she said that she was almost done, so he made himself useful and called a cab.

Taylor made them something fancy with tofu in it that Billie couldn't even remember the name to, but it didn't matter because it was disgusting.

Adrienne hugged her parents goodbye as they cried, but she didn't shed one tear. She turned to Billie smiled.

"Ready?"