A Thousand Times Before
Chapter 7
By: Nicole
"Nic, where are you?" Billy snatched the curtain back moments later. "There you are! Scoot over." I slid over and he climbed into the bunk. "I wanna show you something.." He grinned impatiently, dragging me out of the bunk by the hand.
"Billy, jeesh! slow down!" I whimpered and he nodded, taking a slow pace.
He stopped once we reached the front door of the bus. He stepped behind me, wrapping his right arm around my waist and placing his left hand over my eyes. He leaned down, kissing right below my ear. "Don't talk, just close your eyes and trust me.." Once he felt my eyelashes brush across the palm of him hand he guided me off the bus and up a flight of stairs. We walked a bit and then took a left, stopping after a few feet. "Wait here." I heard a rattle of keys and then a door being pushed open before Billy's hands were back in their previous positions and he was leading me forward again before stopping after a few feet. He removed his hands. "Stay right there and don't open your eyes." I heard a whimper, then a giggle and a variation of footsteps. "Okay opens your eyes!"
I opened my eyes, expecting to see a field of candles lighting a dark room and rose petals covering the floor and Billy lying on a black sheeted bed with some sexy piece of clothing on..But that was just what I wanted to see. Instead, I was greeted with the sight of Ker, Joel, Benji, Paul, Billy and several of my old friends standing infront of me. Billy caught my attention more so than anyone. In his arms he had a small Cocker spaniel mix puppy. "Billy! What is all this?! And and Tommy..Tammy!..Wow..what are you guys doing here?!"
Billy was petting the puppy affectionately."Your friends brought you a present!"
I made my way to Tommy, hugging him and then Tammy. "I missed you guys."
Tammy patted me on the head. She was a good four inches taller than me and maybe one inch under Billy. She had waist length turquoise hair, naturally blonde, and cheerful blue eyes. She was simple with only her nose pierced and three earrings in each ear, one being a cartilage piercing, and a plain black dress on with her signature combat boots. "Belle had pups and this one looked like your pup back home, Angel, so we figured you'd like to have her.." She and Tommy had thick Australian accents After all, they were Australian.
Tommy, or Tom for short, was Tammy's identical twin who even went as far as to dye his hair the same color as hers, and had it spiked in about four inch spikes, making him seem taller than Tammy.He had his nose pierced as well, but only had one earring in each ear, and he was wearing a black collared button up shirt with a neon green tie, black dickies, a studded belt, and boots. I'd met the two in Montgomery when they came into the store I worked at, ever since they'd been two of mine and Ker's closest friends.
Billy wrapped one arm around me, the puppy occupying the other. "So what're you gonna name her?"
I wrapped my arms around Billy's waist. "Um..how about..Iris?"
Billy kissed my forehead and smiled. "Iris it is then! Welcome home Iris." He kissed the excited pup on the head.
Ker sighed longingly. "Joely, look they're so cute together and now they look like one happy family! All they need is a kid now!"
Joel laughed quietly. "Billy? A dad? Are you kidding? The guy can't even fix toast!"
Billy shot Joel an evil glare. "I heard that, and I resent it! I can too cook toast!"
Paul laughed. "Maybe you can, but you either burn the toast or catch something on fire!"
Billy pouted, turning back to me. "Niic, say something!"
I grinned. "Okay children it doesn't matter if he can't cook toast, I don't like toast anyway."
Steve popped into the room. "Uh I'd hate to break up this lovely sounding party, but Benji, Joel, Billy, and Paul have a sound check in five minutes."
Paul sighed. "We're coming.."
Everyone followed Steve out, Ker wrapped in Joel's arms, and me wrapped in Billy's. Tommy and Tammy behind us.Well we were in the venue, but somewhere on the upper level. We went down a flight of stairs and down a long hall before reaching the huge arena. I had to seat atleast 10,000 people comfortably.
Billy, Benji, Paul, and Joel walked onto the stage, Benji and Billy strapping on their guitars, Paul his bass, and Joel grabbed his mic. Me, Ker, Tommy and Tammy all grabbed a fold-up chair, sitting infront of the barrier and as close to the stage as we could get without losing sight of the boys. Benji fixed his mic stand, Billy and Paul taking the time to tune and warm up, and Joel taping the song list to the stage, behind on of the many speakers at the front of the stage.
"Alright guys, tonight it's gonna be..I Heard you, My Bloody Valentine, Sacrifice, then an acoustic set with me and Benj which will be Seasons, Emotionless, Pink Lemonade, and Graduation Plea, then Billy's gonna do Gravity Girl with Benj and me, then everybody back in to close with The Anthem and Goodbye Love..Everybody got that?" Joel went over the song list once more in his head.
They started running through the songs, Billy jumping around the stage like a mad man. I took the chance and whistled. "Woohoo! Shake it sexy!"
He grinned widely, turning around and shaking his ass in our direction, turning around again and winking to me. I couldn't help but laugh and blow him a kiss.
Ker on the only hand stuck to staring at Joel and smiling every time she caught his eye.
An hour later...
Billy sat his guitar in it's stand on the side of the stage, grabbed a towel off his amp, and ran to me, sweeping me up into one very sweaty hug. "Did I do good?"
I nodded, even though he was all stinky and sweaty, he was still my Billy and I loved to hug my Billy! "You kicked ass sexy! Not to mention that whole ass shaking thing..wow..thats all I'm gonna say..wow!" I grinned mischievously.
He caught onto the hints, a smirk slipping onto his face. "Well I won't be shaking my ass for anyone but you."
------At the same time------
(Kerri's POV)
Joel pulled up a chair beside me, throwing his arm over my shoulder, and letting out a heavy sigh. "I'm tired now.."
I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Awh Joely's tired..well you still have a concert in.." I glanced at the watch adorning my wrist. "Two hours!"
He groaned. "Don't remind me Ker, jeesh."
I slipped out of my chair and into his lap, brushing a strand of rebellious hair back into place. "So what do you wanna do until then?"
He raised a brow hintingly. "Uh..explore my bunk? I don't think you've gotten the 'personal' tour yet and better yet, we can lock the bus door so nobody can interrupt the tour!"
I laughed. "Wow sounds like fun."
He picked me up, laughter and all, and broke into a slow run to the bus, well this was going to get him excited for the concert!
-------Back to Nic, right when Joel and Kerri are going to the bus----
(Nic's POV)
I nudged Billy in the side, pointing to Joel running out the door with Ker laughing hysterically in his arms. "Whatcha wanna bet they're fixen to go lock the bus door?"
Billy huffed sarcastically, snapping his fingers. "Damnit! Joel got around to it before I did!"
I slid a hand behind his neck, pulling his head towards me and catching him in a kiss. "Maybe later?"
His eyes went wide, mouth hanging open. "Really?!" He bounced around, doing his strange 'happy dance.'
I grinned mischievously, running a hand under his shirt. "If you're a good boy."
He nodded quickly. "Yes um yes um! Oh oh! you wanna go watch a movie?"
I shrugged, moving my hands to around his waist, his hands mirroring mine. "What movie?"
He grinned sheepishly. "My favourite movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas!"
I grinned, pulling at his wrists anxiously. "Oh oh! I love that movie! Where's the nearest TV?"
He pointed to the dressing room down the hall. "Race ya' to the door! Winner gets the couch!" He broke into a mad dash.
"Billy that's not faaair! You got a head start!" I jogged after him, already knowing I wouldn't beat him.
He shrugged. " We can share the couch."
Two hours later everyone was standing backstage. Ker and Joel looked beyond excited, and as for me and Billy.. I think Billy was looking forward to after the concert. We were supposed to be staying at the Jameson Inn, which was probably the best hotel they could find here, after all it was Auburn.
"Alright boys, time to go on!" that same annoying guy stood beside the stage curtain, shouting the time til' they went on. I think I was building a grudge against him...
I hugged Billy, placing a kiss on his cheek."Good luck and do good for me okay?"
He leaned down, brushing his lips against my ear as he whispered, his breath warm against my skin. "I'm gonna dedicate Gravity Girl to you.."
I nodded. "Thanks, but you better go before they leave you!"
-----At the same time----
(Joel's POV)
Ker wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into a supportive hug. "Don't fall off stage, don't hit any off key notes, get the crowd hyped, and remember I'm watching you the whole time."
I kissed her forehead. "Anything else mother?"
She gave me an evil yet playful glare. "Get your cute butt on stage Joel Madden!"
I laughed, hugging her one last time before jogging onto the stage, the rest of the band in tow.
(Nic's POV, after the show)
Okay, I can't lie.. the show kicked serious ass! I couldn't help but feel beyond lucky when Billy dedicated 'Gravity Girl' to me and received a mixture of 'ooo's and awwwh's' from the crowd. Surprisingly, Benji dedicated Seasons to someone, no names, he just said 'My special someone, you know who you are.' That boy kinda has me wondering now.. And to top it all off, Joel pulled Ker on stage to officially announce their relationship to the public. Speaking of public announcements of relationships, I was beginning to wonder if Billy would ever get around to announcing ours.
Okay so, here we were, Good Charlotte plus me, Ker, Tommy and Tammy, all hanging around the bus. Benji, Billy, Joel, and Paul were signing anything and everything you could think of, taking a picture every so often.
Tammy leaned against the bus. "So Nic, I heard that Matt's pretty pissed off at you."
I shrugged, handing Iris to Ker. "Can you go put her in the back lounge?"
Ker nodded, taking the pup onto the bus.
I turned my attention back to Tammy. "Well, I didn't doubt he'd get pissed. He brought me here in hopes of starting up a relationship again, but then I met Billy and well, we were watching a movie and the couch was uncomfortable so we ending up lying down and eventually falling asleep. And then I woke up and was too tired to go back to my room so I stayed in Billy's room that night. Well, Matt and Ker found us and misunderstood it as we'd done more than slept, so Matt left right after that.." I shrugged.
She laughed. "Well, I guess as long as you're happy then I can't beat ya' down like I promised Matt."
I was about to say something when I felt a pair of lips connect with my neck. "Hmm.. I'm guessing, Joel?" I turned around to see a very confused Billy.
He tilted his head. "Joel? Joel? Are you cheating on me?" He poked my stomach playfully.
I giggled, swatting at his hands. "It was his idea, I swear!"
"Oh really?" He wrapped his arms around my waist, hands mercilessly tickling my sides.
I shrieked in a very girly manner, laughing hysterically, out of breath, and wiggling in his grasp. "You..win!"
He stopped tickling me and kissed my neck teasingly. "I love it when I win."
Tammy cleared her throat. "As much as we all love to see your little public display of affection, I think there's somebody waiting for you two.."
I glanced around, noticing all the fans were gone and everyone else was on the bus. I grinned. "Sorry!"
Billy laced his arms around my waist from behind, ushering my yawning and shivering form onto the bus. "Tired? Cold?" He rubbed my arms, never breaking from my waist.
I leaned back into his chest, nodding as I yawned again. "Can we skip the hang out tonight and just go to bed?"
He nodded, leading me to our bunk. We didn't bother changing clothes, with the exception of Billy trading his sweaty shirt for a nice clean one, we just crawled into the bunk, cuddled up and fell asleep.
(Kerri's POV)
Everyone but Billy and Nic were piled into the back lounge, even Tommy and Tammy. I was sitting in the corner of the couch, Joel to my left, and Paul to his left. Benji was sprawled out in the floor, and Tommy and Tammy were occupying the loveseat across from Paul.
Okay, so the silence was comfortable, but I was really and I do mean REALLY bored. "Hey, you guys wanna play Truth or Dare?"
Joel shrugged, Paul nodded, Benji gave an enthusiastic 'yeah!', and Tammy and Tommy just nodded.
Benji grinned. "Ker! You go first!"
I laughed, the perfect dare formulating in my head. "Alright..Benji! Truth or dare?"
His grin grew even wider. "Dare."
I giggled, this was gonna be funny. "I dare you to give Joel a lap dance while singing Christina whats her face 'Genie in a Bottle' in a Swedish accent!" (AN: Thanks to Ker for helping me come up with the dares!)
Benji's jaw dropped. "What!?"
Joel gave a nervous laugh. "Uh Ker, we don't wanna make Benji all horny tonight."
I grinned evilly. "It's a dare Benji, now get to it!"
Benji grumbled, climbing into his brothers lap. " If you wanna be with me, baby there's a price to pay, I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right waaaay.."
By this time Joel was horrified, Benji actually KNEW the words to the song?!
Benji took a deep breath to keep from laughing at the expression his brother was sporting. "If you wanna be with me, I can make your wish come true, you gotta make a big impression, I gotta like what you dooo! I'm a genie in a bottle baby, you gotta rub me the right way honey, I'm a genie in a bottle baby, come, come, come on and let me out!" Benji crawled back onto the floor, his laughter mixing with everyone else's in the room.. (AN: I actually had to look up the lyrics, but what can I say? I don't listen to her =P)
Ker was doubled over in a fit of laughter. "Oh my god..Benji you actually know the words to that song?! And.. and Joel! Your face was priceless!"
Benji's laughter died down. "Okay okay, my turn! Umm... Tammy! Truth or dare?"
Tammy raised a brow. "With the way you people think.. truth."
Benji wrinkled his nose. "No fun, okay well I've noticed you eyeing Pauly all night long, do you think Paul's cute?"
Tammy blushed a light pink color, mumbling a quiet "Yeah."
Paul tried to fight a grin. "Well..thats interesting.."
Tammy laughed nervously. "Joel, truth or dare?"
Joel played with the hem of his shirt, licking his lips nervously. "Um..dare.."
Tammy sat there think for a few minutes. "Okay Joel, I dare you to pick any guy in the room and kiss him!"
Joel went wide eyes. "What the fuck? Why do I get all the sexual dares?! Why can't I just kiss Ker?!"
Tammy laughed. "That would be no fun!"
Joel huffed and turned to Paul. "Okay okay, Paul, man I'm sorry and shit, but I'm not kissing my bro or a guy I barely know." Joel leaned over and pecked him on the cheek quickly before huddling up to Ker.
Paul groaned. "Dear god, Tammy I'm gonna kill you."
Joel mumbled something to Ker before glancing around. "Paul, truth or dare?"
Paul had a very paranoid look on his face. "Truth."
Joel thought for a second. "Do you like Tammy? As in for a girlfriend."
Paul shrugged. "After that damn dare of hers, I'm having second thoughts."
Joel grinned. "So that's a yes?"
Paul shrugged. "Maybe, any who, Tommy, truth or dare?"
Tommy yawned. "Truth, but make it quick, I'm sleepy.."
Paul glanced around the room. "What's Tammy's most embarrassing moment?"
Tommy laughed sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "When our older sister made her dress all preppy for picture day in ninth grade. I'm going to bed now, g'night." He stretched out on the loveseat, pushing Tammy off.
Paul stood up and stretched. "I'm goin' to bed too, I'm sure Tammy wants her bed." He headed for the bunk room.
Joel and I stood up, giving our good nights and heading for the bunk room as well. We crawled into his bunk, me not bothering to change since Joel sleeps in the clothes he wore that day. Joel kissed me neck lovingly, whispering in my ear. "I love you Ker."
I smiled, running a fingertip along his well defined jaw line. "I love you too Joel."
I stayed awake until I heard a soft snore emerge from Joel, just admiring how beautiful he was. He whimpered in his sleep, squirming briefly before returning to his peaceful sleep. I smiled, closing my eyes and welcoming sleep.