My Stepdad, Billie Joe Armstrong (Daughter of Rage and Love)

There's Fire in my Veins and it's Pouring out like a Flood

The wedding rehearsal was a giant pain in the ass. It was a mass of sighs, grunts and moans from my side and a mass of ignoring and pretending I don't exist from the other, aka my mother.

I was forced to walk up and down, up and down the aisle maybe 20 times. My feet, clad in thick high heels, were killing me, and I tried not to dwell too much on the fact that when the wedding would arrive, I'd be forced not just into heels but also a floor length dress. Props to my mom who refused to consider short dresses (for god forbid!) it will take everyone's eyes, even for one billionth of a microsecond, away from her.

Uttering another sigh, I sneak my phone out of my pocket to check if Alisa replied to any of my texts. I've been waiting anxiously since the start of this darn thing but all to no avail.

Just as I picked up my phone to check again, it rang. I answered right away and was greeted with a loud yell.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"I couldn't make it, my mom's wedd –" I started to explain myself.

"No, don't even start. Don't even start. You are such a bitch, I swear. One thing we ask you to do before we freaken leave and you can't...like why did you say you can when you can't? We were stuck here for a good hour before we got a fucking taxi man, there were fucking delays everywhere. You have any idea how exhausted I am?"

"I'm sorry!"

"Whatever," she said and hung up.

Ugh great. This is great. The one best friend I have decides to call it quits on me. Just what I need. Another act in the shit show I call my life.

"Something wrong?" Tre piped up from behind a row of chairs.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing. Stupid shit like usual," I said and tried to wave off his question like a fly.

"Lemon?" he asked and produced one from under his hat.

"Holy shit, why'd you have a freaken lemon?" for a split second I was brought out of my moody moodiness by Tre's eccentricities.

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," he said and with an important look and a flourish of his hand took out a lemon juicer from underneath one of the seats.

"Right right...you do realize you're the one who's holding the lemon and the lemon juicer in your hands right?"

"I'm just trying to make things easier for you," he said and shrugged his shoulders.

"I appreciate that Tre –" I was rudely cut off by Billie, who had the nerve to sling one of his arms around my shoulders and lean his head against my shoulder since now I towered over him. Note to self: ask mom why she wants me to wear heels that make me a literal giant.

"What's up with the lemons and shit?" he asked as I shook off his arm and shoulder with enough force to later in life be diagnosed with a herniated disk.

"Tre is a little fridge and a convenience store," I mumbled.

"Yeah, I know, Tre you have a vacuum cleaner by any chance? Someone decided it'll be funny to throw a plate at the religion screamer," Billie said while Tre proceeded to take out a miniature vacuum cleaner and saying, "I think this would work just fine".

"Thank you," Billie said and grabbing the vacuum cleaner left.

"Do you think if I drink enough softener, my insides would feel soft as velvet and smell like lavender fields? Or maybe my life would become super soft and you can go jump on it like it's a trampoline," Tre said, looking dreamily off into the distance, head in hands.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked him.

"That's what we're still trying to figure out," Mike said, appearing out of thin air and grabbing me by my waist slung me over his shoulder and walked out of the church.

"Don't be out for too long!" my mom yelled after us. Yeah, with Mike she's as sweet as butterscotch and willing to admit to anything, but with me no, even if it does mean losing one of the only best friends I have.

After setting me down on the front steps he sighed, stretched and casually said, "Whatever it is it'll work itself out,"

"I really don't think so," I said, sitting down on the front steps of the church and kicking off my heels.

"That's what I said about my relationship with Billie," Mike said and patted my shoulder. "And look where that ended up," Mike finished.

"Yoo-Hoo!" a brute voice, harsh and condescending, yet somehow pure, as if scarred with innocence, called out from across the street.

"What the hell, I could've sworn that sounded just like –" Mike was cut off by another

"YOO-HOO!"

"Sweet tap dancing Jesus Christ! Hope run, run to Billie and bring him out here but do not, under any circumstances let your mom know he's gone or who he's about to see!" Mike whisper yelled to me, half down the steps and before I could open my mouth to ask him who it is, he was halfway across the street and in another second was able to herd the woman away from the church. I was able to see the woman had blonde hair, was shorter than Mike, and had on a dress.

I got up, dusting off, and went inside to look for Billie. Thank heavens he wasn't anywhere near my mom and it was easy to lure him out of the church without her noticing, for the time being at least.

"I don't get it, who did you guys see?" he asked, following me across the street.

"I don't know, some chick who kept yelling 'yoo-hoo' like she's a fucking living ad for the –

"What did you just say?" Billie asked, stopping dead in his tracks and spinning me around. I got kind of creeped out when he leveled me with his eyes and repeated the question.

"Dude, sorry if you like the freaken brand of chocolate milk or whatever it is but I'm lactose intolerant and that chocolatey syrup does not settle well with my stomach or my–"

"No, I don't care about the damn brand, you said she said 'yoo-hoo'?"

"...Um, yes, that's why Mike –"

"We're screwed, we are so screwed! Fucking yoo-hoo my ass!" Billie threw his hands up in the air while I started to fume at how this little mushroom kept interrupting me and was part of all these stupid secrets I wasn't part of.

"TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AND STOP INTERRUPTING AND IF YOU SAY FUCKING 'YOO-HOO' ONE MORE TIME I SWEAR I WILL BARF ALL OVER THAT STUPID FACE OF YOURS!" I yelled at him.

"Holy crap, okay, okay, okay, just don't yell," Billie said and put his hand over my mouth, looking over his shoulder to the church, probably terrified my mom will come out and kill him before they could exchange their vows.

After making sure she wasn't going to come flying out of there and start screaming like a banshee, he turned his face back to me, his eyes such a deep dark green that they almost looked brown, and clouded with fear and...pain? Sympathy? No...sadness? he took a deep breath and said,

"Don't freak out but that's my somewhat punk meth addicted weed smoking till she can't breathe ex-girlfriend,"

**thank you for your support and love and reads and votes! I appreciate it soo much and love you all my beautiful darling lovelies! :) :) :) :) On another note, I found this beautiful picture somewhere on Internet and it's just wow. All rights go to the rightful owner of course, as is every single picture I used.**