Worry Rock - Chapter One.
Title: Worry Rock - Chapter One
Author: Rebecka
Pairing: young!(Billie Joe/John, Billie Joe/Tre)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Everybody in this story belong to themselves and I’m just using them for my own guilty pleasure, for entertainment only and completely without permission. I’m not making any profit out of it. Even though there are a lot of real facts in this story, remember that it is still fiction and I’m not saying that anything of this is true.
Word Count: 1 730 words.
Notes: It takes place in the formation and beginning of Green Day’s career. Billie Joe is dating John (Al Sobrante) when said drummer leaves the band to go to college. Will Billie let their new drummer Tre in? This story is told from Tre’s Point of View. (For a more detailed ‘Notes’ and ‘Dedication’, go to the Prologue.)
Dedication: This is dedicated to Tracy and Barb.
| Prologue |
Worry Rock - Chapter One
--
When I had been working for almost two weeks straight with my new friends, and they had gotten the opportunity to see me putting my soul into this band, I think they were starting to believe in me.
Mike and I used to meet an hour or two before band practise and he used to tell me stuff about the band and Billie and their songs, and I was forever grateful to him. Billie wasn’t showing me much of himself, if anything at all really, and when it came to Green Day’s songs, he was like a closed door.
So, Mike told me a story about a girl called Adrienne. He had seen Billie write songs about her, but since John had been in the band when Billie had met her, he could never ask us to play those songs. She lived in Minnesota, and they had met there when Green Day had been out on tour, just before John dropped the band.
Mike told me about that show, about how Billie had turned to the audience and found her there, and how his eyes had never left hers. He also told me about John, about how Mike was sure that their relationship was on the verge of falling apart because of her, because of how Billie had somehow figured out that he wasn’t just gay.
But Billie had never told John about her, not more than just answering when Mike had asked them if they’d seen that ‘hot girl with the dreads’ after the show. But, he thought that John had figured it out. Maybe he had caught Billie writing about her?
I’d never told anybody about my sexuality, about me being just gay, but I told Mike that day. I told him and he listened and didn’t judge, but when he asked if I was seeing someone, my cheeks had burnt and I’d said a blunt ‘no’.
And then Mike had smiled, a genuine fucking smile, and ruffled a hand through my copper hair, telling me that any guy would be lucky to have me, and I’d wished that I’d had the guts to tell him about my fangirly crush on his best friend. But I didn’t, and the next thing I knew, Billie was there and band practise was starting.
After a few more weeks of trying out being in a real punk band, we found ourselves ready for the first show. It was just a test, just a tryout for me to feel what it was like to be with them on stage.
Billie was starting to warm up on me and I think he was actually impressed with my way of drumming. He used to compliment me whenever I did something he thought had been cool, and I used to respond by blushing. And Mike used to giggle.
You know what felt weird, though? Playing a song called “Sweet Children”, especially when John was in the audience. They had written it together before he left, but hadn’t included it on the first record. And at this first show, we played that song. I tried my hardest not to look like I wasn’t enjoying myself, but it felt really weird and in the end of it, I had looked away, brushing thick droplets of sweat off my forehead with the back of my wrist. I hoped for my own sake that the other two didn’t see it.
But other than that, it had been a great show. It had been such a rush to be up there in front of a crowd that actually knew the words to most songs, to see them flail whenever Billie shouted to them, to see him and Mike be so buzzed (and possibly a little high) that they actually shook of adrenalin when it was time for us to leave.
It had been so amazing, you know. I’d never felt so alive in my whole life, not until about five minutes after we got outside, at least. Mike had already run back inside, screaming back to us that he was going to get us a couple of beers before we’d leave, so Billie and I were alone.
It’d been cold outside and I remember that I’d shivered in my sweaty tee shirt, the hot rush of excitement now wearing off and leaving me in this wet, freezing skin. But Billie hadn’t looked cold, and he actually hadn’t looked warm in there either, even though he’d been wearing a black hoodie big enough to fit the both of us.
But he’d understood how cold I’d been, and he’d taken it off for me and placed it over my shoulders.
“Here, it’ll keep you warm,” he’d said and rubbed my back on top of it, eliciting a butterfly-y feeling inside of me. And I’d brought my arms into the sleeves and pulled the zipper up, suddenly blushing really hard as I couldn’t help but feeling how warm it was and knowing that that warmth only came from him.
And it hadn’t ended there, because then he’d turned to me and looked into my eyes, saying my name and making me nod back dumbly before continuing. He’d started to ramble about John, about that he was probably going to leave him, but not because he’d found someone else (Adrienne, I’d thought to myself), but because he’d lost complete interest in him. It’d been the first thing about himself that he’d said to me, and I was shocked. But relieved.
“I didn’t think we could find a better drummer,” he’d stated, and then walked up really, really close and wrapped his arms around me. “I was so fucking wrong.”
I hadn’t known what to say, what to do, but I tried acting cool, you know, like I always do and hugged him back while trying desperately not to smell his hair. I succeeded, and we let go of each other.
“I’m really glad to have you in the band, man,” he’d said, nodding his head towards Mike as he came bouncing up to us, beer in hand.
“I’m, I’m really glad, too,” I’d answered, stuttered, accepting a beer and another, quicker hug from Billie.
After that night, he and I had been inseparable. And he used to come to me a lot during the days and we’d hang out in my room, or basement, and talk about music and life and love, and I don’t think he got how much I lied to him about the latter. I used to tell him about girls. About how great I was in bed, when in fact, I’d never even done it with a guy.
What I liked the most, though, was when he watched me play. He could sit for hours and just look at me, as if he’d never seen a guy drum before. And, then he started to write songs there, while I was playing and he was just sitting there. Every now and then, he’d look up and ask me to repeat something, and I’d do it and he’d nod and go back to writing.
He knew me more than anybody else did, and he still didn’t know about the feelings I had for him. And, I knew I would regret not telling him the day he came over with Mike to ‘song-talk’. It’d been awful.
For the first time since I’d met him, he told us about Adrienne. And he showed us songs he’d written about her and letters he’d gotten from her, including pictures and stuff, and I’d felt uncomfortable, and I know that Mike had, too.
“What about John?” Mike had asked, since Billie still hadn’t left the guy. ‘Good sex’, he’d told me from time to time, whenever I’d asked about him, and for a guy in our age, it was a more than good enough reason to stay with someone.
But this time, Billie didn’t answer it like that. He actually didn’t answer at all, which made Mike drop the question and wait for a better opportunity to bring it up again.
But we played the Adrienne-songs, and we knew that they were good enough to put on a record. That’s why we invited Lawrence over, a guy so happy about this band that we didn’t even have to ask - he brought all the papers on album-recording we needed and had us signing up for another deal right then and there.
And that’s how we soon found ourselves down at the studio again, and it wasn’t the first time for me since I had recorded a few EP’s with the Lookouts, but it was the first time with these guys, and I was nervous.
We started by playing a song called “Welcome to Paradise”, which was about the place Billie and Mike lived, a place they’d told me to move to. I really wanted to move in with them, but I didn’t know how that would turn out if Billie would have John over for some ‘good sex’ and I would just have to die on the other side of the wall.
But then again, I was old enough to go through shit like that, right? You can’t always get what you want, and it wasn’t like he knew that I wanted him or anything.
We recorded three more songs before it was time to do my love song. I’d written it just for fun and just as something I hoped everybody would take as a joke. And the guys had thought it was funny. In fact, that was the first time I saw Billie giggle, and I’d never forget the sound of it.
Both of them had heard the song before, they had gotten to know it pretty well for this record, but Billie had never laughed like that to it. First, it had just been a smile, almost fainted, but then it had grown bigger and bigger until his whole face had been shining and his eyes had sparkled and he’d been so damn beautiful, man.
And then he’d laughed. Rich and light and happily, for a long time. Tears had run down his cheeks as he’d sat almost doubled over on my tiny drum stool.
It’d been the happiest thing I’d ever seen, and it had been all because of me, because of something I'd done. So, I started to wonder. What else could I do to make Billie Joe laugh like that?
--
To Be Continued.
Author: Rebecka
Pairing: young!(Billie Joe/John, Billie Joe/Tre)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Everybody in this story belong to themselves and I’m just using them for my own guilty pleasure, for entertainment only and completely without permission. I’m not making any profit out of it. Even though there are a lot of real facts in this story, remember that it is still fiction and I’m not saying that anything of this is true.
Word Count: 1 730 words.
Notes: It takes place in the formation and beginning of Green Day’s career. Billie Joe is dating John (Al Sobrante) when said drummer leaves the band to go to college. Will Billie let their new drummer Tre in? This story is told from Tre’s Point of View. (For a more detailed ‘Notes’ and ‘Dedication’, go to the Prologue.)
Dedication: This is dedicated to Tracy and Barb.
| Prologue |
Worry Rock - Chapter One
--
When I had been working for almost two weeks straight with my new friends, and they had gotten the opportunity to see me putting my soul into this band, I think they were starting to believe in me.
Mike and I used to meet an hour or two before band practise and he used to tell me stuff about the band and Billie and their songs, and I was forever grateful to him. Billie wasn’t showing me much of himself, if anything at all really, and when it came to Green Day’s songs, he was like a closed door.
So, Mike told me a story about a girl called Adrienne. He had seen Billie write songs about her, but since John had been in the band when Billie had met her, he could never ask us to play those songs. She lived in Minnesota, and they had met there when Green Day had been out on tour, just before John dropped the band.
Mike told me about that show, about how Billie had turned to the audience and found her there, and how his eyes had never left hers. He also told me about John, about how Mike was sure that their relationship was on the verge of falling apart because of her, because of how Billie had somehow figured out that he wasn’t just gay.
But Billie had never told John about her, not more than just answering when Mike had asked them if they’d seen that ‘hot girl with the dreads’ after the show. But, he thought that John had figured it out. Maybe he had caught Billie writing about her?
I’d never told anybody about my sexuality, about me being just gay, but I told Mike that day. I told him and he listened and didn’t judge, but when he asked if I was seeing someone, my cheeks had burnt and I’d said a blunt ‘no’.
And then Mike had smiled, a genuine fucking smile, and ruffled a hand through my copper hair, telling me that any guy would be lucky to have me, and I’d wished that I’d had the guts to tell him about my fangirly crush on his best friend. But I didn’t, and the next thing I knew, Billie was there and band practise was starting.
After a few more weeks of trying out being in a real punk band, we found ourselves ready for the first show. It was just a test, just a tryout for me to feel what it was like to be with them on stage.
Billie was starting to warm up on me and I think he was actually impressed with my way of drumming. He used to compliment me whenever I did something he thought had been cool, and I used to respond by blushing. And Mike used to giggle.
You know what felt weird, though? Playing a song called “Sweet Children”, especially when John was in the audience. They had written it together before he left, but hadn’t included it on the first record. And at this first show, we played that song. I tried my hardest not to look like I wasn’t enjoying myself, but it felt really weird and in the end of it, I had looked away, brushing thick droplets of sweat off my forehead with the back of my wrist. I hoped for my own sake that the other two didn’t see it.
But other than that, it had been a great show. It had been such a rush to be up there in front of a crowd that actually knew the words to most songs, to see them flail whenever Billie shouted to them, to see him and Mike be so buzzed (and possibly a little high) that they actually shook of adrenalin when it was time for us to leave.
It had been so amazing, you know. I’d never felt so alive in my whole life, not until about five minutes after we got outside, at least. Mike had already run back inside, screaming back to us that he was going to get us a couple of beers before we’d leave, so Billie and I were alone.
It’d been cold outside and I remember that I’d shivered in my sweaty tee shirt, the hot rush of excitement now wearing off and leaving me in this wet, freezing skin. But Billie hadn’t looked cold, and he actually hadn’t looked warm in there either, even though he’d been wearing a black hoodie big enough to fit the both of us.
But he’d understood how cold I’d been, and he’d taken it off for me and placed it over my shoulders.
“Here, it’ll keep you warm,” he’d said and rubbed my back on top of it, eliciting a butterfly-y feeling inside of me. And I’d brought my arms into the sleeves and pulled the zipper up, suddenly blushing really hard as I couldn’t help but feeling how warm it was and knowing that that warmth only came from him.
And it hadn’t ended there, because then he’d turned to me and looked into my eyes, saying my name and making me nod back dumbly before continuing. He’d started to ramble about John, about that he was probably going to leave him, but not because he’d found someone else (Adrienne, I’d thought to myself), but because he’d lost complete interest in him. It’d been the first thing about himself that he’d said to me, and I was shocked. But relieved.
“I didn’t think we could find a better drummer,” he’d stated, and then walked up really, really close and wrapped his arms around me. “I was so fucking wrong.”
I hadn’t known what to say, what to do, but I tried acting cool, you know, like I always do and hugged him back while trying desperately not to smell his hair. I succeeded, and we let go of each other.
“I’m really glad to have you in the band, man,” he’d said, nodding his head towards Mike as he came bouncing up to us, beer in hand.
“I’m, I’m really glad, too,” I’d answered, stuttered, accepting a beer and another, quicker hug from Billie.
After that night, he and I had been inseparable. And he used to come to me a lot during the days and we’d hang out in my room, or basement, and talk about music and life and love, and I don’t think he got how much I lied to him about the latter. I used to tell him about girls. About how great I was in bed, when in fact, I’d never even done it with a guy.
What I liked the most, though, was when he watched me play. He could sit for hours and just look at me, as if he’d never seen a guy drum before. And, then he started to write songs there, while I was playing and he was just sitting there. Every now and then, he’d look up and ask me to repeat something, and I’d do it and he’d nod and go back to writing.
He knew me more than anybody else did, and he still didn’t know about the feelings I had for him. And, I knew I would regret not telling him the day he came over with Mike to ‘song-talk’. It’d been awful.
For the first time since I’d met him, he told us about Adrienne. And he showed us songs he’d written about her and letters he’d gotten from her, including pictures and stuff, and I’d felt uncomfortable, and I know that Mike had, too.
“What about John?” Mike had asked, since Billie still hadn’t left the guy. ‘Good sex’, he’d told me from time to time, whenever I’d asked about him, and for a guy in our age, it was a more than good enough reason to stay with someone.
But this time, Billie didn’t answer it like that. He actually didn’t answer at all, which made Mike drop the question and wait for a better opportunity to bring it up again.
But we played the Adrienne-songs, and we knew that they were good enough to put on a record. That’s why we invited Lawrence over, a guy so happy about this band that we didn’t even have to ask - he brought all the papers on album-recording we needed and had us signing up for another deal right then and there.
And that’s how we soon found ourselves down at the studio again, and it wasn’t the first time for me since I had recorded a few EP’s with the Lookouts, but it was the first time with these guys, and I was nervous.
We started by playing a song called “Welcome to Paradise”, which was about the place Billie and Mike lived, a place they’d told me to move to. I really wanted to move in with them, but I didn’t know how that would turn out if Billie would have John over for some ‘good sex’ and I would just have to die on the other side of the wall.
But then again, I was old enough to go through shit like that, right? You can’t always get what you want, and it wasn’t like he knew that I wanted him or anything.
We recorded three more songs before it was time to do my love song. I’d written it just for fun and just as something I hoped everybody would take as a joke. And the guys had thought it was funny. In fact, that was the first time I saw Billie giggle, and I’d never forget the sound of it.
Both of them had heard the song before, they had gotten to know it pretty well for this record, but Billie had never laughed like that to it. First, it had just been a smile, almost fainted, but then it had grown bigger and bigger until his whole face had been shining and his eyes had sparkled and he’d been so damn beautiful, man.
And then he’d laughed. Rich and light and happily, for a long time. Tears had run down his cheeks as he’d sat almost doubled over on my tiny drum stool.
It’d been the happiest thing I’d ever seen, and it had been all because of me, because of something I'd done. So, I started to wonder. What else could I do to make Billie Joe laugh like that?
--
To Be Continued.