Brutal Love

Chapter 48

"Winnie. Come on love. You got to get up." Billie was shaking me. I blinked a couple of times before opening my eyes fully. He was standing over me in his boxers.

"What time is is?" I groaned, rolling over. I shivered and then realized I wasn't wearing anything. I curled into a ball and pulled the covers with me. I looked at the clock on the nightstand. 3 am. I groaned and rolled over again to see Billie gathering up my clothes.

"I'm sorry, love. But you have to get going before Tre wakes up. If he finds your door locked again he'll get suspicious and I doubt you have any good excuses." He put my clothes at the foot of the bed and sat down in front of me. "As much as I want you to stay, I want to keep this." He kissed my hand. "Now come on." He ripped the covers off of me as he stood up. I curled into a ball instantly. I heard him laugh and rummage through his closet. Then he threw a piece of clothing over me, which I immediately tried to make cover all of me. "I'll go make you a coffee and when I come back up, I expect you to be up and dressed. You can wear that." I heard him open and close the door.

I groaned again and sat up with the hoodie. I threw it over me, not bothering to put on my shirt or bra, then I threw on my panties. I didn't feel like struggling into my shorts so I rummaged through his drawers until I found a pair of sweatpants. I smiled and pulled them on. I found a small drawstring bag in the corner and I threw my clothes into it. I threw it on the bed and then fell back onto the bed next to it. The door opened and closed again.

"That's better, although I think you look amazing without MY clothes on. Or any clothes for that matter." I sat up as he sat next to me and handed me a coffee. I smiled and took a big sip. He slung his arm around me. "It's not like you're going out alone. I'm coming with you of course."

"Why? I can manage by myself." I lied. I wanted him to come with me, but I didn't want to be a bother.

"It's pitch black outside. It would make me feel better and I know for damn sure that it would make you feel better." He got up and started rummaging through his drawers. He sighed and turned around.

"What?"

"I was going to wear those pants." I smiled, like I won something.

"I prefer you without clothes anyways. You can stay just the way you are, Armstrong." He threw his head back in laughter.

"You're stealing my lines now, kid." He pulled out another pair of sweats and a long sleeve, then threw them on, covering his beautiful tattoos and muscles. I put on a small frown. He smiled and came back over and kissed me. "You'll see them again soon my love." He pulled me up into a hug.

"I don't want to go."

"I know. But you'll be over soon anyways." I pulled out of the hug and looked at him confused. "Band practice is today. You don't think Tre would actually leave you home alone, right? Not after last time."

"You're right. But that's band practice. It won't be like this." He pulled me back into his chest.

"Just wait until tonight, my sweet. It'll be the same tonight." I felt him fidgeting with something around my neck. He held me out at arms length and looked at me. "Don't give it back unless you mean it, ok? I won't be able to bear it if you do, though. So maybe just don't give it back? Please?"

I looked down and past my nose I saw an upside down Mickey. I looked back at him and hugged him. "I'll never give it back, I promise. Minnie would never do that to Mickey and neither would I. I love you too much. They'll have to pry it from my cold dead corpse to get it away from me."

He laughed and I felt it on his chest. "I'll hold you to that. Now come on, we're losing time. the sooner you get back, the sooner you can go back to sleep and have sweet dreams of yours truly."

"Are you just narrating what you're going to do?" I giggled. He kissed the top of my head and then pulled out of the hug and grabbed my hand. I grabbed the bag I threw my clothes in and we left his room, went down stairs, and walked out into the darkness of the night...well, morning.

As we were walking, Billie was pointing out all the constellations with his free hand. His other hand was being hugged to death by me. Funnily enough, it was the same arm I was hugging last night.

"You really like this arm, don't you?" Billie joked, jostling the arm a little.

"Yeah. It's my favorite." I replied, giggling as he kept jostling.

"Well, if I could rip it off and give it to you I would."

"Don't do that. It's not really the arm I like, it's what the arm is attached to that I love."

"Aw, you're so adorable in the morning. I mean you're adorable all the time, but usually you're full of sarcastic jokes like a teenager. But now, you're so cute and adorable."

"Speaking of adorable, what was that song you sang me to sleep with last night?"

"It's a song called, Brutal Love. It's new. Y'know for the trilogy."

"It was a beautiful song. What's it about?"

"Exactly what the title suggests. It's about how all love is brutal but you have to work through to hard parts to get to the good parts. It's also a great escape from real life, because for me, it just makes me forget about all my worries. Especially when I'm with you." He kissed the top of my head.

"That's really poetic. I like it. You truly are an amazing songwriter."

We were now at the back of my house and it was 4 am. He helped me up and through the window.

"Adieu, ma belle Juliet." He whispered and then kissed my forehead.

"You missed, Romeo."

"My bad." He lowered his lips and kissed mine ever so softly. "I just want to let you know, it's going to hurt when you wake up, but don't worry. Just walk it off and it'll go away."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"Now I have to go." He kissed me again. "I love you Winnie."

"I love you too." And he climbed out the window. I closed it and then went over to my door and unlocked it. I didn't want Tre to be suspicious. Then I climbed into bed and once my head hit the pillow I instantly went to sleep.