She was the first girl he ever loved. It's funny, Juliet didn't believe in love until Billie showed her what it was. She had spent her time in her hometown, New York, wasting her beauty on worthless assholes who threw her out after drunken one night stands, which built up on her until her self- respect had been washed away with her mascara tears. They met when she was in California for a year, trying to get away, before going home again. When he saw her for the first time, she was at Gilman, trying to make a living as a bar tender while guys tried to get some ass from her. He could see that she was defeated. Not broken, shattered, or destroyed, simply defeated, like a once grand racehorse past its prime. Except that he could tell just by looking at her that she was in her prime now. He also realized that she was wasting it.
After keeping tabs on her all night, he located the asshole that was taking her home for the night and followed her out when she left to meet him. He caught up with her in the parking lot just before she turned the corner to meet up with whoever he was.
"Wait up!" he called, and she turned.
"What?" she asked impatiently.
"Do you actually want to leave with him?" he asked and she raised a stony eyebrow at him.
"Excuse me?" she asked the look in her eyes positively lethal.
"You heard me. You don't actually want to leave with him tonight," he said, speaking slowly.
"What makes you so sure?" she asked, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth at his arrogance.
"Because you rolled your eyes like you were having a seizure while he was sweet talking you. Because that's how you treat every guy who wants to make you their own for the night," he said and she glared at him.
"That's not true!" she retorted, feeling her own lie as it left her lips.
"Stop lying to yourself!" he practically yelled. He hadn't meant to raise his voice, but he wanted-he needed- her to see that she was worth more than some disposable piece of ass.
"You're an asshole," she spat at him and he smiled, and held up his arms in a careless shrug.
"Welcome to me, babe. You're still wrong," he sighed in a cocky sort of way that made her stomach turn with dislike.
"I hate you!" she said fiercely. Far from phase him, her words made him smile.
"That's good!" he said encouragingly and she raised her eyebrows at him.
"What?" she said, confused.
"Hate's the closest thing in the world to love-it's the most passionate," he replied, his smile softening from cocky to caring, and she had to fight to stay mad.
"It's not passionate-" she began, but he cut her off quietly.
"Yes it is-and that's good. Keep that fire in you alive, it's very valuable. I can imagine someone is missing that fire very much. Who did you leave behind for this life?" he asked, knowing he was taking it too far.
"I didn't have anyone to leave behind, but you obviously must, someone as wise as you," she said sarcastically, and he inclined his head as though it was a compliment, while she continued. "So, really. Who did you leave behind to chase me out here?" she asked and he laughed a bitter laugh.
"Nothing I care to go back for. So are you in or out?" he asked and she furrowed her eyebrows.
"In or out of what?" she asked and he held out his hand.
"Dinner with me. Look, you can either go home and fuck that slimeball, or I can take you out to dinner and drop you off at your house," he said, laying her options out on the table for her. Her eyes darted back toward the way she had been walking, where her companion stood waiting and then back to Billie, hand still outstretched.
"Okay," she said, taking his hand and he smiled.
"See that wasn't so hard was it?" he asked and she stuck her tongue out at him.
"I still hate you," she said softly.
"I still have all night to change your mind," he reminded her and true to his word, within twenty minutes of dinner with him, she realized how right Billie was about the fine line between love and hate-for her, the line had been almost invisible, she never knew she had crossed it until they were getting in his car and he kissed her. And by then, they had reached the point of no return.
Her favorite thing about that night was his bed. It was soft and comfy and it made it easier for her to cuddle closer to him, as his arm came around her and kept her warm while he stroked her hair until she fell asleep.
The next morning was the beginning of 12 perfect months. She moved out of the small house she was renting within two weeks of that perfect night, and began living with him. He showed her everything, how to cook amazing meals, how to fix a broken down old truck without spending a dime, how to drink shots without chasers, how to play guitar, and how love and be loved. He wrote her a song, and sang it to her every night until it was a constant soundtrack to their whole lives. She used to hum it while working at the bar, but she quit that job after a long night at the bar, and she had been doodling on a napkin. The guy sitting at the bar saw and asked to see her work, and the next thing she knew, she found herself a job as an artist at the guy's tattoo shop. That was how Billie ended up with the butterfly tattoo on his wrist. He remembered lying about worrying about it hurting- he just wanted to hold her hand while she etched the dark wings onto his skin with the other. And then, twenty minutes later, wrist still aching, Billie expertly traced his own initials onto her hip. She would never forget him.
He introduced her to the band, and Mike and Tre fell in love with her too. Tre actually was interested enough to cause problems at one point, but it passed, with Juliet constantly remaining Billie's girl. She was his girl all the way to January 10th of the next year. Juliet had to go home.
"Don't be sad," she begged, and he smiled a little sadly, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.
"I'm not. I just- I hope you will be okay," he said and she took his hand.
"I'm alright," she said and he nodded, moving a bit closer to her.
"Do you regret any of it?" he asked and she shook her head.
"No, nothing. Its just-it was just, enough you know? Too much more and we would have gone crazy. Too much of a good thing can do that to you," she joked and he smiled at her intimately.
"Thank you for learning that. So few people do," he said, and kissed her one last time.
"Stay in touch?" she asked, and he smiled, wrapping his arm around your shoulder as one often does with a very good friend.
"Of course. It would be hardest of all never to see you or talk to you again, little J," he said, and she laughed.
"I hate you," she whispered lovingly, and he smiled.
"Good, hate's the closest thing to love," he sighed and hugged her before kissing the top of her head, and he saw her board a plane back to her home, away from him.
They did stay in touch as promised. They told each other everything, and he was even invited to her wedding. He admits even now to feeling a bit of a twinge of regret at that moment, but it passed and he went, with Tre and Mike in tow. Juliet's wedding was beautifully anti-tradition, just like everything else about her, least of which because Billie got to be the "maid of honor". After the ceremony, she came up to him and hugged him like no other.
"Are you alright? Is this hard for you?" she asked and he smiled brightly.
"Jules, are you happy? Are you in love, do you feel loved?" he asked, and she smiled at the familiarity of the words. He was always checking up on her.
"Yes, yes, to all three questions, yes," she said, admitting only with her tone of voice that she was thanking him for everything, that she owed him everything. He got the message.
"Then I am the happiest man on earth today," he said, brushing hair out of her eyes. "So different than how you were when you first came into my life," he whispered and she blinked and put an arm around his shoulders.
"You haven't changed a bit. You're the same old Billie Joe. That's good. Don't ever stop being you," she said, and he smiled.
"Don't worry about that," he told her, and she laughed.
"Did you keep the tattoo?" she asked, and he nodded, showing her.
"How about you?" he asked and she unzipped the side of her dress so that he could see the tattoo, three letters, on her hip.
"I couldn't get rid of it," she asked and he smiled, helping her zip her dress back up before watching her walk back to her husband.
They still keep in touch. In fact, Billie is reminiscing about Jules as he reads her email. She wants her little girl to see California, and she is wondering if he could show them around the city. He replies yes, and adds that they could even stay with him if they don't want to bother with hotels. It's strange to him that he is alone while his little boys, Jakob and Joey are at their mother's house, and Juliet, the wildest girl in the world, is happy with a loving, unbroken family. It's funny, he thinks, that of the two of them, she deserved it more. He scrolls to the top of the message- she's got a daughter now. He looked forward to meeting the little girl, wondering what she would be like, and hoped against hope, for the little girl's sake, that she would at least be like her mother, if only just a little bit.