It's Not a Question, but a Lesson Learned in Time (Green Day Fanfiction)

Chapter 4 - Bittersweet migraine in my head...

Stephanie's POV - 

My aching head woke me up rudely the next morning. I groaned and lazily rolled over, cradling my throbbing head with one hand. I strained my eyes to read the little red numbers on my alarm clock: 7:08 AM. Another groan. Why did I always wake up early on days I didn't have to be in the office until late morning? I wouldn't care if I was one of those people that could easily fall back to sleep after waking up, but I was not one of those people. Between my pounding headache and insufficient amount of sleep, I could already tell that today was going to be rough. 

Climbing out of bed clumsily and rubbing my eyes, I stumbled into the bathroom and double-checked my calendar. I always kept a calendar hung on my bathroom wall, mostly to help remind me which job I was supposed to show up at every day. Each month, there it was: my work schedule written out, every day, to the finest detail. Working two jobs sometimes gets hectic and I need help remembering where the hell I'm going which day. Tomorrow was Tuesday, which meant it was my paper route day. Even though I had to wake up super early tomorrow to deliver papers, I could come home afterwards and rest. I normally can't ever come home and fall asleep after my paper route because, like I said, I don't have that luxurious gift of being able to fall asleep easily once I wake up. Since I'm status-post hangover and didn't get a lot of sleep last night, though, maybe I'll get lucky and pass out tomorrow when I come home. 

Opening my medicine cabinet, I did a quick search of my favorite hangover remedy; my lovely friend, Excedrin. I grabbed two from the bottle and tossed them into my mouth, followed by a swig of cool water from the sink. 

After getting dressed into a pair of my favorite comfy, yet sophisticated black denim jeans, I searched in my closet for an appropriate top to pair them with. I ended up choosing an over-sized white sweater adorned in sparkles. I love bling, and Torrid had plenty of that to offer in their clothing. I really enjoyed shopping at Torrid. I loved how they had a wide range of clothes and sizes. I've always been a curvier girl, and I wasn't ashamed of it. I loved my body and did a decent job of taking care of myself (with the exception of getting shitfaced and binging on pasta with Billie Joe every now and then). Since surpassing puberty, though, I had pretty much evened-out at a size 14, and I was perfectly fine with that. 

After spending a little more time on my makeup than usual to hide my hungover, tired eyes, I headed into the kitchen and squinted through the window. The snow was relentless. I groaned and thought about my paper route tomorrow. I wasn't concerned about having to go to the office in this weather because I could just take the bus. I truly did not enjoy driving in the snow. I could definitely do it; I had my trusty little four-wheel-drive Subaru to get me down the roads and through my route. Having to drive through it all just gave me heaps of anxiety. 

Ding!

I was startled out of my grueling thoughts about the snow when my phone went off. I went over and picked it up from the sofa where I had abandoned it last night after Billie Joe brought me home. Shit. I was so drunk last night I totally forgot to put it on the charger before going to bed. Good thing it still had a decent charge on it - 68% battery power left. 

Typing in the passcode to open my phone, I smiled. The text I had received was from Billie Joe. 

"Morning, Steph :) Hope you slept well. Is your head fucking pounding like mine is this morning? Lol I know you gotta go to the office later today and I wanted to know if you wanted a ride. It's snowing like crazy out there. Be happy to take you on your paper route tomorrow too if you'd like. I know you don't like the snow lol :P"

As hungover as I was, and as much as my head was still punishing me for the night before, I felt my entire demeanor shift upwards once I read Billie Joe's text. I was so thankful for his offer to take me to the office and on my route tomorrow. It's almost like he had been here with me, reading my thoughts as I stared out the window at the snowfall just a few minutes ago. 

"Good morning, Billie Joe! :) Yeah, it hurts like fucking hell, lol. But I had such a fun time, thank you again. :D I'm gonna call you, ok?" 

To which he promptly replied:

"Please do :D" 

Wearing a big, still-sleepy smile, I hit "call" at the top of Billie Joe's name in my phone and waited patiently to hear his sweet voice. As our phones connected, I felt my stomach do back-flips the same way it did the first time I spoke with him on the phone. We were still new friends at the time and had recently exchanged numbers in anticipation of meeting and working together on a science project. I don't remember what the science project was about now. All I know is that our friendship grew from there. 

I didn't have to wait long for him to answer; the phone hardly finished one complete ring before he answered. 

"Gooooooooood mooorninnnggg" he answered in a husky, singsong voice. I could hear him smiling over the phone. 

Oh my God. His morning voice was so incredibly sexy. Until now, I don't think I'd ever heard it before. 

"Good morning, Mr. Armstrong," I giggled in a lame attempt to hide any trace of me melting into a puddle over the phone. 

"I think I'll take you up on your offer, if you're still willing to be my chauffeur in this crazy snow?" I asked. 

"Oh, absolutely, Steph," he replied. "I'm happy to help you out. Plus, it'll buy us some more time together."

I didn't think it was possible, but I melted even more when he said that. The fact that he was such a busy guy, here in New York just for a quick meeting and still wanting to spend time with me, made me realize how important our friendship was to him. My heart swelled with love. 

"Thanks so much, Billie Joe. You're truly the best," I replied gratefully.

"C'mon, Steph, I'm nothing special," he replied. "I'm trying to be a better friend for you, y'know? We haven't seen each other in a while, and that's my fault. Being on the road is just - it's fun, y'know? It's great and all, but it takes away time with your family and friends that you can't get back...and, well, to me, you're my best friend and a part of my family. I wanna make you a priority. And I'm here now, so I'm gonna take every opportunity that I can to make you a priority as long as you'll let me." He paused briefly.

His words made me smile, but I also felt guilty that he blamed himself for us not seeing each other more.

"Billie...things are different now and you're famous, it's not your fault, it's just - " I started.

"Listen, Steph, this has nothing to do with you," he interrupted softly. "You haven't done anything wrong. I need to get my shit together and make a point to spend time with the people I care about. And I care about you. I miss spending time with you. We have a lot to catch up on," he said, very matter-of-factly. 

I smiled, wishing he could somehow see me smiling through the phone. I wanted him to know that it was okay. That I didn't have any hard feelings towards him for not making a point to see me more often. I knew he was busy. I was so happy for him and Green Day's success. I wanted him to know that he would always have my support. 

There were so many things I wanted to say to him; to reassure him about. A telephone conversation just wouldn't do, though. I wanted to see him now. I wanted to talk to him in person. Even if I had just seen him last night. Even if we had already made plans to hang out later this week. 

I thought for a minute.

"Y'know, Billie Joe, you are absolutely right about one thing," I said, optimistically. We do have a lot to catch up on. If you're not busy this morning, would you like to come over and watch a movie or something with me? We can just hang out, talk, indulge in our hangover leftovers for lunch, and you could drop me off at the office later?"

"Y'know what, Steph?" he asked. "I was secretly hoping you'd want some company before I came over to pick you up for work." 

"Only your company, Billie Joe. Not just anyone's!" I laughed. 

"Well, shit!" he retorted with a chuckle. "It's my lucky day! Gimme, like, 15 minutes, ok? The hotel I'm staying at isn't far from you. I'll be over soon."

I found myself smiling once again.

"Sounds good. See you in a bit, Billie."

"See you real soon," he responded warmly. 

I decided it was going to be a damn good day after all.