Slip of a Boy

Title: Slip of a Boy.
Author: Sarah Elizabeth (Karma Killer)
Summary: Set up in chapters, but basically a series of vignettes chronicling the downfall of Billie Joe's marriage and the growth of his relationship with Mike.
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Billie Joe/Mike Dirnt
Feedback: desired.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the arrangement of words. Completely non-profit and completely hormonal.

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Emotional Extravagance

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"What the FUCK were you thinking?" Mike was storming after Billie Joe behind the stage. His smaller bandmate was headed directly to their dressing room. He had yet to acknowledge Mike's very apparent distress, which the bassist found to be absolutely maddening.

Billie Joe flung open the door and passed through it, not even trying to hold it for Mike.

Mike slammed it open so hard it hit the wall behind it and cracked where the doorknob had been.

"Fuck, Mike! What's your problem?" Billie Joe had finally faced him.

"MY problem? What's MY problem?"

Billie Joe continued to regard Mike with his hands on those teasingly slender hips of his.

Mike was far past flustered at this point. He flung his hands in the air and gave up trying to control the volume of his voice. "YOU! You're my problem! Half the time you walk around like a fucking zombie, and the other half of the time you're what some professionals would refer to as mentally unbalanced!"

Billie's features seemed to curl into a cheshire grin. "Oh so you've still got your panties in a twist about the show tonight?"

"No Billie, it's not the show," Mike seemed to think about this for a moment before becoming nearly irate. "Well, yes! On some levels it's your fucking antics during the show! You can't be careless like that, for fuck's sake! The whole band is on the line when you drag your dick into this!"

"What, you didn't enjoy it?" Billie asked, seeming to have missed out completely on the point of Mike's speech.

The bassist was breathing heavily, his chest heaving as Billie slowly approached him. Because Mike held a number of inches to his height, Billie Joe was forced to look up as he came closer. Tilting his head to one side, he ran a careful hand down Mike's chest, stopping to feel the rhythmic thud of his beating heart.

Billie Joe stared at his hand resting over Mike's heart. "Tell me you didn't enjoy it," he whispered. Mike closed his eyes and practiced breathing. And then he did all that he could think of at that moment.

He pushed Billie Joe away, and a little harder than he had originally intended. The lithe guitarists collided roughly with a chest of drawers near the makeup chair. He regained his footing and seemed to stare at the floor for a good minute before lifting his chin to glare at Mike. If looks could maim, Mike might as well have been fighting on the beaches of D Day.

"Billie, I...I didn't mean-"

"Save it," he cut off, thrusting himself forward from the drawers, his stance suggesting a certain offense. Mike half expected a return blow, and when he saw Billie heading for the door, he was stunned. Shaking himself from his reverie, he reached out as Billie passed and hooked him in by the sleeve of his shirt.

"Billie don't-"

The smaller man violently struggled out of Mike's grip. "Oh so you WANT to touch me now?"

"No I just-"

Billie Joe held up his hands in mock defense. "Oh no. Don't worry, I get it. You have to be the big man, right? You have to instigate the domination?" Billie Joe sneered and got up in Mike's face, taking one of the bassist's large hands and running it lewdly over the front of his pants. When Mike quickly withdrew his hand from the gesture, Billie retaliated by shoving his fists into Mike's chest.

Mike fell back a few feet and watched Billie cautiously. He was looking at his hands in sheer disgust, as if they should be doused in his best friend's blood. And then he glanced back up at Mike, his eyes shining with unshed tears, his mouth twisted into an anguished frown.

This time, Mike found the blow to be unexpected. Billie Joe slapped his bandmate hard across the face. When Mike failed to react to his behavior, Billie Joe did it again. And again. And again. The contact of flesh on flesh was the only sound in the room and it reverberated off the walls like a wrecking ball. Billie Joe didn't understand why he was getting away with this.

Mike finally had enough and grabbed Billie's wrists, one at a time but equally firm. As soon as the smaller man ceased his struggling, Mike pushed him into the closest wall, placing Billie's weakening hands above his head.

Billie's eyes were wide with what seemed to be fear, and when he noticed the reddening of Mike's cheeks from his blows he began to chew his bottom lip until he drew blood. The coppery substance flowed against his teeth and then he tasted it, grimacing at the metallic sensation.

"What's the matter with you?" Mike asked softly. He felt Billie begin to tremble beneath him. He was still looking at him like a deer in headlights. The image of Billie so lost, so scared, was breaking his heart. Without thinking, he took Billie's wrists in one hand and used the other to wipe a drop of liberated blood from the smaller man's lip.

Billie Joe's gaze snapped immediately to Mike's hand as it pulled away. He caught the flash of crimson on Mike's thumb and made a sharp intake of breath. Mike hesitated a moment before setting the hand next to his bandmate's head.

"Fuck Billie Joe," he muttered breathlessly, crashing his lips to the smaller man's gasping mouth. He swallowed the little sound of surprise Billie made and slipped his tongue inside, swirling about the hot pink cavern. He tasted the blood from Billie's split lip and it only made him want his broken friend more.

Just as he felt Billie Joe begin to respond fervently, he pulled away and let Billie's wrists fall back to his sides. "I'm going to fix you," Mike said firmly before pushing off the wall and leaving the room.

Billie Joe slid down the wall, not bothering to relax his knees that were now pulled up slack against his chest. His heart was beating out of time.

Suddenly, the door to the dressing room was thrust open, and noise littered the room. Tre spilled in with two blonde companions, one hanging off each of the drummer's arms. "Hey where the fuck have you been? There's a fucking party happening here!"

"Sorry Tre, guess I'm just tired."

The drummer smiled but was soon distracted by the blond on the right who was tugging childishly at his sleeve. He whispered something in the bimbo's ear causing her to laugh like a hyena. He looked back at Billie Joe apologetically. "Well get the fuck out here. It's not a party without you and you know it. What are you doing in here by yourself anyways?"

"Nothing," Billie Joe stated blankly, "Absolutely nothing."

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