Chapter Nine

“Wow!” I took a look around and smiled. “This place is beautiful!”

I couldn’t exactly tell you where I was, but what I did know was that it was a hell of a sight to see. It was a type of dimension that looked just like earth but with inverted colors. The river was a lime green, surrounded by blue grass and long yellow trees. The sky was a light purple with brown stars and a black sun. Everything was seductively attractive to the human eye. The best part was, I knew it was a dream. It was a lucid dream, and I smiled truthfully for the first time in what seemed like forever.

“It feels nice to have control! To know my place and not be confused out of my mind,” I say aloud to myself while taking a seat on an orange rock. I took in a deep breath of the air, which tasted a bit like a tangy lemon. Everything felt peaceful.

“Yeah, I bet it feels nice. Can you share?”

I quickly stood up and flung behind me to see Billie Joe leaning up against a tree in such a badass position. His black hair was spiked up, and had a little blonde tint on the tips. His eyeliner heightened the intensity of his green eyes. He wore black skinny dreams and a maroon red tee, and if I wasn’t attracted to him before, I definitely was now.

“Uhh, hi Billie!” I greet nervously with an anxious giggle to go along with it. “Come here often?” I joke.

He wasn’t laughing. Matter a fact, he looked the most pissed off I had ever seen him. His arms were crossed in anger and his lips were perked in a disappointed way. He raised his eyebrows to show he was unimpressed by my remark.

“Okay, you know I love you, but how are you still in my head? Do you find pleasure in raiding my mind?”

He hesitated for a moment, and eventually made his way towards me.

“I bet you think this whole thing is about you, don’t yah? I bet you think you can just make decisions as you please without talking to me about it because whatever Layla says goes, am I right?” He calls while marching in my direction.

“No! Billie, I’m sorry…please let me explain!” I gulped while taking a few steps back in fear.

“Explain what? Explain how you left me alone for days in this shit world? Scared out of my fucking mind? Thanks for the fucking favor.”

“No, no that’s not it. Billie I was terrified to sleep. The doctor told me I could have schizophrenia and it stirred up some insomnia. I didn’t forget you, Billie….I was scared of seeing you because of what it meant to everyone else.”

His strut towards me looked so displeasing and frightful. I wanted to run away from him but instead I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Eventually I could hear his breath besides me, but before I could scream as a reaction to his close encounter, he embraced me into a hug.

Billie’s arms around me immediately brought me this sense of security and safety, I hugged him back and we squeezed each other tight.

“I missed you,” he whispered into my ear, sending shivers straight down my spine. He held tighter for a second before his release.

“I’m sorry I left you Billie, I was scared. This is the first night I’ve slept since the park. Do you remember, Billie? Do you remember what happened after I woke up?”

Billie grinned in response to my question.

“I was hoping you would ask. A moment after you left, I was transported to a different realm…this one. I remember each moment of it, unlike the last time where all I could recall was moments right before you appeared. I’m not sure if that’s progress or if it’s me getting sucked into this shit hole more, but it feels more assuring. Before, you couldn’t tell if you were awake or asleep, but now we both know for sure that you’re asleep.”

“Yeah!” I cheer happily. “I know I’m asleep, and it feels so beautiful to know I am in control of this dream. And though I’m happy for you Billie, we still don’t have any answers. If you’re here in my mind, you can’t take a physical form, so you can’t be real?”

“Just because I’m not taking a physical form doesn’t mean I’m not real,” he sighed. Taking a seat beside me, Billie prepared himself for his little monologue. “I don’t have any proof behind what I’m about to say, but I feel it in my heart more than anything, yah know?”

“What is it, Billie?”

He stared into my eyes before he began speaking.

“I am a prop of your dream, and you are a prop of mine. We are both real, but we have only met through these extremely detailed dreams. So yes, every time you see me, you are not conscious, BUT when you are interacting with me, it’s the real me, not some person you made up. That’s why I can’t remember my reality, and you can’t remember yours. Right now, my body is at home in California, sleeping most likely, and I am dreaming of you. Just as when you sleep, you dream of me. Sometimes our dreams match up, hence when we are communicating with each other, which has happened three times now. Other times, they do not, which leaves both of us startled, forgetful and scared. Incomplete, if you will. I don’t know how we became connected, but I do know that we are at our weakest when we are a part. That’s all I got.”

I began scratching my head in confusion. A lot of what he said made complete sense, but there were loopholes to his conviction.

“What about when I hadn’t slept for four days? You said you remembered being here.”

“Yeah, because I was idle in your dream world. Something I’m sure that my actually body and mind wouldn’t remember. When I am here, I am a prop of your mind. You could have been doing the same thing in my mind to me. We just need to practice getting on the same wavelength. We have such a screwed up schedule going on here that when we are off, it fucks everything up.”

“This sounds too complex. I can barely wrap my mind around it.”

Billie grabs my hand and looks me in the eye.

“In other words, we are connected, God knows why, and when we are not together, we are left weak and hopeless in our reality. Things are only right when we are dreaming together. Maybe at home, in my dream, I’m waiting for you to tell me if you remember your day and remember your family, just as I am here. Please tell me you get it, Layla. Please?”

“I get it Billie,” I admit. “But I just don’t know if that’s the case.”

Billie takes in a deep breath and sighs.

“It sounded right in my mind, but it came out like mumbled shit. I’m sorry if I confused you, Layla.”

I nodded sadly and squeezed Billie’s hand a little together.

“Maybe you’re right,” I slip out unassured. “Maybe there’s a whole bunch of shit that’s strung into this. Maybe we’re being targeted and maybe you are more than a figment of my imagination. Maybe you are real and trapped in my mind. But there’s one thing I know for sure, and it’s that I really love spending time with you. You’re such an amazing person with a beautiful heart, and I love the way your eyes light up when you think you figured something out. I know this sounds fucking weird but I decided I don’t care. You feel real to me, but at the end of the day, you truly are in my head, so I don’t fucking care that I’m confessing my love to you. You deserve to know how great you are, and how much I appreciate you believing in me.”

Billie looked astonished by everything I just told him. He is totally the real Billie Joe Armstrong. He reacts the way Billie would, sounds and acts the way he would. I know it’s him somehow. And if this wasn’t my dream, there is no way I would have told him that.

“You love a fucking jag off musician who swears every fucking other word, screams into a mic, strums some shit wire and is rarely ever home because he’d rather tour with two sweaty ball sacks?”

I laughed in hysterics and nodded my head yes.

“Well then, you’ve got some great taste in men,” he winks playfully.

We laughed together for a few minutes or so and just stared at the river together. I leaned my head on his shoulder as we still gripped hands to ensure our company.

“I’ve known you for only a few days now, but I’ve been through more shit with you than I have with most people I’ve known my whole life, yah know? I’m not sure how or why the world picked the two of us to fuck with, but I hope they know that when it comes to you and I, they have fucking nothing on us. We’re the dream team!” He giggles at his own statement which causes me to chuckle. “We’re going to overcome this.”

“I don’t know,” I smirk. “After tonight, being here with you, I don’t want to overcome this. Not if it means that you have to leave me for good.”

“Don’t worry about that. We weren’t thrown together so we could freak out for a few days than never see each other again. This is destiny. We’re going to get some answers and be friends peacefully, I can feel it.”

I know how old he is. I know this is a dream. Nevertheless, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want him to see me as his soul mate or true lover. Maybe that’s why this is all happening. Maybe this is actually a common thing for soul mates who were born a little too far apart. They come together through dreams.

“Things are going to get better,” he adds. I nodded in assent. We hung out a little longer before he speaks again. “We covered a lot of deep mushy shit tonight. Ever swam in a green river? I’ve been eyeing it for days now but I’ve been waiting for someone to go in with. Down for a swim, Lay?” He smirks seductively.

“I don’t know Billie,” I reply with weak knees, swooning at the idea of going for a swim with my musician crush. “I don’t have any swimwear or anything.”

“Bullshit!” He cracks. He immediately pulls off his shirt to reveal his tattooed, muscular body. “All night long you’ve been telling me how much you want to spend time with me, and now you’re going to make a shitty excuse to not jump in? C’mon! You don’t need a bathing suit, just jump in with me! If you really wanted one, I’m sure you could dream it up. This is your mind, anyways.”

I couldn’t help but blush at the sight of a shirtless Billie…his body was so fucking beautiful…

“I see you checking me out over there! Don’t try and hide it,” he teases playfully.

Embarrassed, I naturally turn around to face the trees to avoid eye contact. I hear a huge splash and face the river again.

“Aw poor you! You just missed the sight of my ass,” he winks. “Maybe if you jump in, you’ll get another chance!” He dunks his head under the water and I begin laughing.

“What would your wife say, Mr. Armstrong?” I giggle.

“It was just a dream, honey,” he shrugs innocently. I laugh. “It’s true! She would probably just say it was just a dream. You can’t blame her, it’s the truth. Get in Lay! The water is gorgeous! If it bothers you some, I won’t look, okay?”

I roll my eyes in defeat.

“Turn the other way,” I instruct. He follows my directions and I quickly strip down and jump in. Once I finally rose to the top, Billie faced me.

“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” He smiles.

“Stop trying to seduce me,” I blush.

“Why?” He breathes deeply.

“Because it’s working.”

“Am I turning you on?” His sly grin and wet naked body was absolutely destroying me.

“Slightly,” I admit. He swims closer to me and I begin breathing deeply and quickly.

“I can tell. You get more nervous with each inch I get closer to you.”

“I don’t know if you knew, but I’ve kinda got a thing for you? And you’re driving me nuts.”

“How am I driving you nuts?”

“Because you’re so fucking close to me, both of us completely naked, and I can’t have you.”

“Sounds like you’re stuck in a rut,” he jokes. His legs brush up on me and I shiver.

“Uh…yeah,” I gulp.

“Good thing this is just a dream.” He slowly wraps his arms around my waist and out of nerves I look down at the water. He tilts my head up to face him. “It’s okay to be nervous.”

“Did you have something to drink?” I poke fun.

“Somehow I’m completely sober.” He leans in and kisses me on the forehead. “Trust me, if I wasn’t, I’d be doing a lot more than kissing you on the forehead.” He smirks and disappears into the water. My whole body went numb at the sound of that.

We swam for a while and simply enjoyed each other’s company. The night felt long and complete. We had enough time to talk about everything we wanted to without any interruptions. Slowly the sky began to change colors, insinuating the morning was on its way. We both climbed one of the yellow tree

s and sat on a branch to watch the sunrise.

“You’ll be waking up soon,” he tells me.

“You too, probably.”

“Maybe. I take back what I said at the park. This is a dream. Me however, I am not. Never forget I’m real, okay Layla?”

“Just as long as you don’t forget me!”

“I couldn’t if I tried.”

“Bring your guitar next time Billie, I want to hear you sing.”

He smiles.

“I’ll see you later tonight Layla?”

“I’ll see you later, Billie.”

He kisses me on the cheek right before pushing me off the tree, and on the way down, I slipped into reality.