Flower in the Flame (The Scattered Series - Book #1)

Chapter Eighteen

𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙚 - 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠(𝙨) 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚

18 | Billie Joe Armstrong

I'm a piece of thread at her will, ready to be unravel by the girl who swept into my life and flipped it upside down. Funny, it sounds like a negative phrase. But I like my life upside down, turned by the girl with skin like cinnamon butter and eyes like pools of deep honey.

Now, it's operation Get-That-Girl-Back. If she thinks I'll relent after getting her a few gifts and baking her some cupcakes then she's gravely mistaken. I will stop at nothing to get her back.

"I think it's time you head back now," Nadia speaks in a soft tone, one like silk that wraps around me and nudges the butterflies in my stomach, it sounds as though she's worried I'll be offended. She still cares for me, I know that much, but she thinks I'm a knob now. I'll prove her wrong.

Well, she either still cares, or my baby is an actress.

She gets up and I can't help but trace the seams of her body with my eyes. Those tight blue jeans really work for her, the curve of her ass cupped and exaggerated by the material. If only I were a pair of blue jeans...

One raised eyebrow from her is enough for me to haul myself up from the couch, biting back that long dad groan which calls at the sudden movement. I follow her to the door, which she opens, waiting for me to step out. Cold as ice, my love.

Stepping through the doorway, I turn to look at her. "Can I take you out tonight?" Asking her out on a date feels utterly ridiculous, because if we hadn't fallen out then I would be telling her, not asking. She looks taken aback, her eyebrows raising for a moment.

"No." Her flat response makes my heart drop.

"What? Why not?"

She shrugs at me. Shrugs. She's the definition of 'kick a man while he's down'. I love it. I love it when she rubs salt in the wounds she left, she's such a bitch and its great. I want her to ruin me until it hurts to breathe. "Because you're a dick." Nadia looks at me as she speaks, I can see the glint of a challenge in her eyes.

I muss out my damp hair with a little sigh. "Come on. One date. You go into it with an open mind, and if afterwards you still decide I'm not worth your time, then I'll leave you alone." At my words, she hesitates, the ghost of a disapproving frown brushing over her features so briefly if I hadn't been looking, I would have missed it.

Eventually, she says, "fine."

With an overenthusiastic grin, I offer her my pinky finger in a hope she'll take it and I'll feel the warmth of her skin against mine. She does, hooking her pinky around my own and giving it a light shake. "I'll see you tonight, Billie Joe." The way she says my name drives me wild.

"I'll message you. See you later."

∘°∘♡∘°∘

We haven't hung out as a group in ages. The 5 of us are in my room while I helplessly try to pick an outfit.

Tré is sat on the floor beside the mirror, frowning at the clothes I drape before him. Juniper, Tré's girl, is laid on my bed on her back, her phone held above her head. Fallon is beside Juniper, laid on her front, her legs in the air and swinging as she watches me. Mike lounges against one of the legs of the bed, his demeanour effortlessly calm. My nerves are like a box of frogs, I hate it.

"Maybe you're doing it all wrong." Fallon drops her chin into her hands, her elbows propping up her head. I glance in my sister's direction, a single brow raised at her. I'm open to any suggestions at this point, as long as we find me something to wear. All my outfits so far have either been 'too casual' or 'too formal' or too 'you're going on a date, not to a funeral'.

"Well?" It's safe to say my patience is running thin.

Fallon gets up, silent for what might be the first time in her life, and shuffles through my drawers. Her blonde hair falls in front of her face as her head dips. I tap my foot whilst I wait. She pulls out a white button up shirt along with a black pair of skinny jeans. She grabs my studded belt from my closet and my creepers, the shoes I may or may not have bought to add a few inches to my height. "Perfect."

Juniper sniggers, "you just picked out the most Billie outfit you could have."

"Exactly." Fallon sounds utterly pleased with herself, while I feel a tinge of annoyance. What's wrong with something being a Billie outfit? My sister gets up, prodding Mike with her foot, who snores lightly with his head slumped. "Wake up, you big oaf, Billie needs to get ready for his date."

My wonderful sister ushers everyone out the room as I eye the outfit she laid out. I hate it when she's right, but these clothes are perfect.

"What you gonna do with her?" Fallon asks me, pausing at the door. I glance in her direction, "I was going to take her to that restaurant-" Her tightly drawn cringe makes me pause.. and feel like an idiot.

She shakes her head, "what, you wanna take her to a restaurant where you're 2 metres away from her? A restaurant date is the most impersonal thing ever." I don't usually take advice from the girl who greets every cat she walks past, but she's probably got a point with this one.

"Come back with me and Mike. I'll give you one of my recipes and the ingredients and you," She pauses, steps forward to prod a finger at my chest, "can make her something yourself."

Bending over backwards for girls is something I've always done. I get utterly infatuated by them, even when I don't see a future with them. Imagine how it is to find the girl I finally want without an ounce of doubt. I feel completely insane because I know I will do anything she tells me to.

I need this girl.

My heart is hers to keep and I don't mind if after all of this she decides to throw it in the dirt.

I step out the house with a pool of discomfort burning in my gut, because if I fuck this up tonight, I lose her forever.