Joel waited for his friend, Tice, in the airport. He hadn't seen her in a while, so he decided to fly her into the city he was in and she'd join him on tour for a few weeks. At first she said no, but then her job made her take her long overdue vacation time, so she said yes.

Joel was in a very famous band by the name of Good Charlotte. His identical twin brother, Benji, whom Tice had dated was also in the band. Joel was really the only main singer, but Benji played guitar and sang a 'lil. Their friends, Billy, Paul, and Chris were also in the band. Billy played guitar also. Paul played bass guitar, and Chris was the drummer.

Joel finally spotted her. He smiled and waved her over. She looked a little stressed. She walked over to him. He wrapped his arms around her in a big hug.

"What's wrong?" Joel asked.

"Bumpy ride." she replied. "Let's go get my bags."

"Alright." Joel said. They went and got her bags and then got in the limo to go to the hotel. "We're staying in this hotel for about two more days." Joel said in the elevator.

"Cool." she said. She still hadn't loosened up.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Joel asked.

"Yea, once I loosen up a little, I'll be find. Don't worry about it." she replied. The elevator jolted slightly. She worried.

"Tice, calm down." Joel said. They arrived at their floor. They went to a hotel room.

"Who's sharing the room with me?" she asked.

"Me, you, and Benj." Joel responded. "You and I will share one of the beds."

"You're so lucky I never have a boyfriend when I come on tour with you." Tice smiled. She was starting to loosen up.

Benji entered the room, smiling. His smile faded when he saw Tice.

"What are you doing here?" Benji asked, quietly.

"I, uh, had to take a vacation, and, uh, Joel wanted me to come out and see the show." she quietly responded, looking at the floor. They felt akward around each other.

"Where have you been?" Joel asked Benji.

"I went to Hot Topic with Pierre and David." Benji replied.

"I love that store." Tice said.

"I know." Benji said. He had a piercing stare. His gaze, fixed on her.

"Maybe I should go for a walk." Tice said, getting up.

"No, no . . . "Joel said.

"Yea . . . stay, I'd love to hear about how things are going." Benji said. "Any new guys in your life?"

"Not since you and I broke up a month ago." Tice said to him.

"Do you want to go out to dinner, Tice?" Joel asked.

"We should order pizza and invite everyone over." Benji suggested.

"Benji's idea sounds fun." she said.

"I'll go get Pierre and tell him and he can round everyone up." Benji said and left. Tice breathed a sigh of relief after he left.

"That was tough, huh?" Joel asked.

"Yea, Joely . . . you ordering the pizza?" she asked.

"Yea, sure. Maybe you'll hit it off with one of the Simple Plan guys." Joel said. "They're the band that's touring with us."

"Maybe." Tice said. She turned on the television and started to watch a movie while Joel ordered the pizza. Benji soon returned with one other guy, and a chick.

"Noone else wanted any pizza." Benji replied. "How many did you order?"

"Six or seven." Joel responded.

"Oh, sorry." Benji said. "Tice, this is my girl, Stephanie, and a really good friend of the band's, Pierre."

"The one you went to Hot Topic with?" Tice asked.

"Yea." Benji said. "What are you watching?"

"Oh, some movie just got over . . . I'm about to start watching THE NEW GUY." she responded.

"That's a kick ass movie." Pierre said.

"Never seen it." Tice responded.

"What are we waiting for then?" he asked. Tice sat down on her and Joel's bed, while Joel went out onto the balcony to call his girlfriend. Benji and his 'girl' were on his bed, making out. Pierre sat down on the bed next to Tice. "Guess we're the only ones watching."

"Yea, guess so." she responded. She glanced over at Benji, then turned her head back to the movie.

"You alright?" Pierre asked her.

"Yea, fine." she responded. She smiled at Pierre, and he returned her smile with one of his own. Tice picked up a pillow and rested it across her thighs. Pierre picked up a pillow and threw it at Benji and Stephanie.

"Get a room!" he said. Tice laughed.

Benji sat up and smiled at Pierre. He flicked him off. Pierre acted like he caught it, and stuck it in his pocket.

"Grow up Pierre!" Stephanie said angrily. "Just because you don't have a girlfriend doesn't mean you can ruin me and Benji's fun."

"Listen, Stephanie, it was a joke." Pierre said. Tice was still grinning.

"What in the fuck are you grinning about?" she asked Tice. "Do you want me to slap that grin off your face?"

"You won't touch her." Joel said, standing in the balcony doorway. Tice quit smiling.

"I will fucking kick the slut's ass." Stephanie yelled.

"You don't even know me." Tice started. Stephanie went to smack her while Pierre went to block Stephanie's shot, Joel darted in from the doorway, and Benji grabbed Stephanie's arm.

"NO! Stephanie." Benji said.

"Benji, let me hit her for what she did to you." Stephanie said.

"No, c'mon, I'll drive you home." Benji said. He nodded at his brother, then he and Stephanie left.

"She's history." Joel said, stepping onto the balcony.

"What'd you do to Benji?" Pierre asked when they were alone.

"I didn't do anything." she responded.

"Well, something happened." Pierre said.

"Benji and I dated for 6 months. One night we went out and he told me that he loved me and how he wanted to get married and have kids and everything. I wasn't ready for that. I got scared. I avoided him for weeks before I broke up with him." Tice responded. "Now he hates me. He doesn't understand at all. I did love him, I loved him very much, but he'll never know that. I don't want him to. It's been very hard to forget him." That's when they both noticed Joel standing in the doorway. He had heard every word. "What's up Joely?"

"Benji's not coming back up. He's going to stay at Stephanie's tonight because she's not comfortable with him sharing a room with us." Joel responded.

"So I get my own bed?" she asked, smiling.

"Yup." Joel grinned.

"Pizza Hut Delivery." a man said through the door. Joel wrote a check for the pizza, then came back with six pizzas.

"I sure hope we're hungry." Joel laughed. They all got some pizza, then started to watch THE NEW GUY. Pierre and Tice ended up closer and closer together as the movie progressed. Joel noticed this and grinned. By the end of the movie, Tice had rested her head on Pierre's chest while he had his arm around her.

"Movie's over." Joel said, turningt he lights on. Tice squinted her eyes.

"Yea, it's pretty late, maybe I should go." Pierre said. Tice sat up. Pierre stood up, taking her hand and gently kissing it. "Au revoir madame."

"What language is that?" Tice questioned.

"French." Pierrre said. "I said Goodbye Madam."

"He's a French Canadian." Joel said, then walked out onto the balcony, dialing his girlfriend's number.

"You are?" Tice asked. Pierre nodded. Tice stood. "I'll walk you to the door."

When they got to the door, they hugged. Tice's lips found his, and gently kissed them.

"Merci beaucoup." he said.

"that means?" she asked.

"Thank you very much." he said.

"Aww, you're welcome." she said. "Come see me tomorrow?"

"yea." he said. " can i get another kiss before i leave?"

she nodded and kissed his lips. Benji opened the door to see them kissing.

"what the hell is going on?" Benji questioned.

Tice quickly pushed Pierre away. She looked at the anger in Benji's face, then she ran into the room. She heard raised voices, then the door slam. Benji walked into the room from the hallway. He looked at Tice, still very angry from what he saw.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came back to get some clothes to see you macking on one of my really good friends." Benji replied, angrily. He saw Tice wince at his anger. He knew she hated it when he was angry.

"Big deal . . . you were macking on Stephanie earlier." she said quietly. She hated fighting with anyone.

"Tice, you were my girlfriend. He's someone that I'm really close to! You can't ----- Just leave him alone!" Benji said, angrily.

"This was a mistake! I knew you'd still hate me if I came on this tour. I tried to tell Joel that." Tice said, her voice raised. Tears were starting to fall.

"Tice, what's wrong?" Joel asked, walking into the room. Tice turned and hid her face in a pillow.

"I walked in the room to find Tice and Pierre making out." Benji said. His tone of voice gave away his anger.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Joel asked.

"Well, I - me and Stephanie broke up. I planned on getting some clothes and staying in Pierre's room, but that's not a possibility now." Benji replied.

"Why wouldn't you stay here?" Joel asked.

"Well, uh, because she's here." Benji said, pointing at Tice.

"I'm catching a flight home in the morning." she said. She got up and threw her clothes into her suitcase.

"Tice, please stay." Joel said. He grabbed her shoulders and began to rub them.

"Quit it!" she said. She got up and walked out of the room. She pressed the elevator button, waited for it to get there, then went to the stairs. She peeked out the window and saw Joel get to the elevator right as it closed. She walked up the stairs to the roof. When she got up there, she sat, looking at the stars, crying. It wasn't long before she realized she wasn't alone.

"I knew I heard someone else come up here." she heard Pierre say. She smiled through her tears. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"I'm going home in the morning. Benji doesn't want me here." she replied in between sobs.

"Hmm, well, I need to tell you something alright?" Pierre asked. Tice nodded. "I believe in love at first sight." Tice put her fingers to his lips knowing what he was going to say.

"I barely know you, but I would like to get to know you." she whispered. He dropped something. "What's that?"

"My journal." he responded.

"Give me the pen." she whispered. She felt another prescence fast approaching. She wrote her phone number neatly. "Hide." she whispered. As soon as he was hidden, Benji opened the door to the roof.

"Come back down to the room." he said. "Please?"

She nodded and as she followed Benji towards the stairs she saw the confused look on Pierre's face. She knew exactly what he was thinking. 'how'd she know Benji was coming?'

Tice and Benji exited the stairwell on their floor when Joel was just getting back up in the elevator.

"He would know exactly where you went." Joel said. he was trying to lighten the mood.

"Let's go Joely." Tice said. They went back to the hotel room.

"Uh, Tice, listen, Joel invited you on tour with us. I don't think it's real fair to him if you leave in the morning." Benji said. "I was kind of hoping maybe we could rebuild our friendship?"

"I'd like that." Tice replied.

The next morning, Joel left her a note saying they'd be back around noon due to radio shows they had to do. It was ten when there was a knock on the door that woke Tice. She went to the door and opened it to find Pierre. She let him in.

"I was here earlier this morning to apologize to Benji for us last night." he said when they were sitting on one of the beds. "I've got a question for you."

"Shoot." she said.

"Well, how'd you know Benji was on his way up last night?" he questioned.

"Ohh, it's a psychological connection between me and him. I know when he's near, just as he knows when I'm near." she responded. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"No! Never!" he said. "I think it's amazing."

"We're going to have to secretly see each other for a while ... until things cool down." she said. He nodded. "You better go before they get home. Who knows they could get home early."

"Bye." Pierre said, kissing her cheek goodbye. "Au revoir madame."

"Au revoir, Pierre." Tice said back. She giggled as he left the room. She went and took a shower. She got out of the shower around 10:45 and got dressed.

"Honey, we're home." Joel said as they walked in the door at 11:05. They went down the long hallway and into the room.

"That's where that shirt went!" Benji laughed as he looked at Tice's shirt, which was an old shirt of his.

"Yea, you gave it to me." she smiled. "I like it, so you're so not getting it back."

"Tice-" he started to whine.

"Go buy yourself another one." Joel said to his twin.

"My thoughts exactly!" Tice smarted off with a smirk on her face. There was a knock on the door.

"That's Pierre . . . we're going back to the mall." Benji said, while Joel answered the door.

"Hot Topic is at the mall?" Tice asked.

"Mhmm." he responded.

"I'm so going." she said, grabbing her MADE hoodie. Joel returned with Pierre.

"You ready?" Pierre asked Benji. His eyes wandered over to Tice. They briefly smiled at each other. It went unnoticed.

"uh, is it ok if Tice comes along?" Benji asked. "She wants to go to hot topic."

"it's cool." pierre said.

"aiight. let's go." benji said.

they left for the mall. they were at the mall for an hour when they got to Hot Topic. Tice squealed and hurried into the store. Pierre looked at Benji and they both laughed as they walked into the store.

Tice stood looking for a pair of pants for Joel when she bumped into Pierre. They giggled and started to look at pants together.

"I like this song." Tice said about the blaring music.

"I want to show you who they are." pierre said, pulling her to the posters. He opened it to a poster of his band. Tice laughed.

"I should have known." she said, then walked back over to the guys pants.

"Tice, what are you doing?" Benji asked.

"Um, buying a pair of pants for Joel." she responded. Benji shook his head and handed her a bunch of girl's clothes and pointed to the dressing room.

"I want to see EVERYTHING on you." he said. "I know it'll fit, I know your sizes."

She tried on all the clothes, which she loved and picked one out of the five outfits to guy. Benji took the other four, gave two to Pierre to buy for her, then bought the remaining two for her also. Tice didn't see them pay for the outfits. They didn't give her the black and red hot topic bags until they got to the hotel room.

"What's this?" she asked as Benji handed her a bag.

"Something you left at the store." Benji said. when Tice peeked into the bag he gave her, she looked up at him.

"thanks Benji, but you shouldn't have spent your money on me." she responded. then Pierre handed her the bag he had. "what the?!?! ya'll were in on this together!"

"we better start runnin'" Benji said, faking for the door.

"this means i get to treat ya'll to dinner." she said.

"you're not mad?" benji asked.

"no, flattered. Where do you want to eat?" she asked.

"I can't tonight. I have a t.v. show to do." Pierre said. "Sorry."

"Do you want to go to a club or something?" Benji asked Tice. Tice thought about it for a second, not long, then agreed. Benji and Tice drank WAY too much that night. Joel wasn't in the room when they got there. Bad things happen when people get drunk. Real bad things.

The next morning, Tice woke up with a huge headache. Benji was sleeping next to her in the same bed.

'Oh my god, what happened?' Tice thought to herself. She wrapped a sheet around herself, grabbed some clothes out of a bag, then ran to the bathroom and got in the shower. Not before long, she heard the bathroom door open.

"Tice? Is that you in the shower?" Benji asked.

"Yea." she said above the water.

"Do you want company?" he asked. She turned off the water, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around herself adn then got out of the shower.

"Nah, I'm done." she said. She walked out of the bathroom. Benji followed her. "What?"

"What? What do you mean?" Benji asked. He looked confused.

"Go take a shower, please?" she asked him.

"No, you'll leave." Benji said.

"No, I won't." she lied.

"Fine." he said. He went into the bathroom. Tice quickly got dressed, then called Joel's cell phone.

"Hello?" Joel asked.

"Where are you?" she questioned.

"I had to stay in a different room because of you and Benji." Joel said.

"I need to go home." she said.

"You said you wouldn't leave." Benji said, standing in the room with a towel wrapped around his waste.

"Shit, I gotta go." she said. "Bye."

She hung up her phone, looking at Benji closely.

"Did last night mean nothing to you or what?" Benji asked.

"Benji, you know I was drinking last night. My judgement is affected by alcohol. If i knew what I was doing last night, I wouldn't of - " she stopped herself.

"That's alright." Benji responded. She could tell he was hurt. Helooked at her for the longest time, shook his head, then grabbed some clothes and returned to the bathroom. Tice was tore up inside. She couldn't believe she kept making the wrong decisions, hurting him like this. Joel walked into the room.

"Where's Benji?" Joel asked.

"The bathroom." she responded.

Joel disappeared into the bathroom, then emerged minutes later.

"What the fuck is going on? What you two did meant nothing to you?" Joel questioned. He was pissed.

"I - I - I -" she started.

"You what?" Joel questioned, the anger in his voice rose.

"We were drinking way too much. The alcohol affected my decision. I would never hurt someone I loved on purpose." she said, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Oh." Joel got quiet. "He didn't tell me ya'll were drinking."

"I'm sorry, Joel. I'm so sorry." she cried. "He's hurting again and it's my fault."

"Don't cry. There's no use for it." Benji said, coldly. "You never loved me anyways."

"Don't state something you don't know is a fact." she said. Benji looked at her. Hope rose in his facial expression.

"I love you very much." he said. "I just don't understand why you keep hurting not only me, but yourself!" he shouted out.

"Goodbye." she said. She grabbed her bags and waited for the elevator. Pierre saw her waiting.

"You leaving?" he asked. She nodded. Joel walked out of the hotel room. He walked up to Tice, hugged her and kissed her cheek.

"I'm sorry the way things ended." Joel said. "Your ticket is waiting for you at the airport. I'll call you late tonight to make sure you got home alright."

After he called her later that night, they would lose touch until they met up later.

*3 1/2 yrs later*
Joel took a seat in a high school cafetorium. A band was setting up to play. Good Charlotte wasn't big anymore, but he and Benji started a record company called Riot City Records and Joel wanted to see what this band was like live.

An hour later, the band finished playing.

"We'd like to thank our manager and our fashion person, Tice." the lead singer said. "Get up here!"

Tice walked on stage, holding a three year old child. Joel's mouth dropped open. That was his Tice. After they finished thanking everyone, Joel found the band.

"Hi, I'm Joel from Riot City Records. We want to sign you guys to our label. We like your sound, your looks, everything." Joel said.

"Great!" the lead singer said. "Let me find my manager and we can set up an appointment."

He went and got Tice and brought her back to Joel.

"Hi." he said.

"What are you doing here?" Tice asked.

"Signing these fine young men." Joel said.

"Great." she responded. The three year old ran up to her, wrapping his arms around her leg.

"We'll make arrangements to fly ya'll to Waldorf, including your manager to start recording." Joel said.

"Alright." Tice said. "Well, and my son." she picked up the three year old. "Brandon, say hi."

"Hi." Brandon said, shyly.

"Hi Brandon." Joel said.

"How long have you known my mommy?" Brandon asked.

"Um, how long has it been?" Joel asked Tice.

"Five minutes." the lead singer said.

"No, try close to eight years." Tice responded.

"Whoa? For real?" the singer asked. Tice and Joel nodded.

"Tice, do you want to go out to lunch?" Joel asked. "We can hit Bennigan's or something. Talk about the band, catch up on old times."

"Uh, actually, I promised Brandon if he was good today I'd take him to Burger King, get him a tender meal and let him play on the playground." she responded. "You're more than welcome to join us."

"Great, let's go." Joel said.

They went to the nearest Burger King.

"Be careful Brandon." Tice said as she and Joel sat out on the padio. No one else was outside, so Tice didn't worry too much about Brandon.

"So, who's the father?" Joel asked.

"Someone I can't tell you. You can't keep a secret from him and I don't want to ruin his life." she responded. Joel frowned, looking at her.

"If I guess will you tell me?" he asked. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Pierre?" he guessed.

"No. He didn't want to be anything more than friends after he found out I was pregnant with someone else's kid." she replied. "Brandon calls him Uncle Pierre."

"Mommy!!!" Brandon shouted. Tice ran to find him, with a bloody knee.

"Brandon, what'd you do baby?" she asked. Brandon started to cry. She picked him up, and carried him to the table, setting him on the table. "Joel, can you get some wet paper napkins, please?"

When Tice finished cleaning her son's wound, she put some neosporin on it, then put a bandaide on it. She gently kissed the top of the bandaide.

"All better?" she asked.

"Yes mommy." he said. He smiled a toothy grin. That's when Joel thought 'hey he kinda looks like me.' that's when it hit him.

"Benji." Joel said. Tice's eyes shot up at Joel.

"Why don't you go finish playing?" Tice said to Brandon. Brandon ran off to the playground.

"Am I right?" Joel questioned.

"Joel, you can't tell him." she said, a bit fearful.

"So, he's my nephew?" Joel asked. "Why would you keep that a secret for so long? Why didn't you call and let Benji know or something? Why -"

"I don't know, alright, Joel?" she shouted. She quickly quieted her voice. "You know it would have ruined his life. I ruined his life enough."

"Do you still love him?" Joel questioned.

"Promise me you won't tell him Brandon is his." she said.

"Answer my question first." Joel said.

"I'll always love him." she responded. "Don't you dare tell him that either."

"If he asks." Joel started.

"Tell him to ask me. I'll tell him if he asks." she said. Brandon came running up.

"I'm ready to go home now mommy." he said. Tice picked him up.

"Joel, did you already rent out a hotel room?" she asked Joel.

"No, I'm about to go do that now." he said.

"You can stay at my house only if you ask Brandon." Tice laughed. "He's the man of the house."

"Brandon is it alright if I stay at your house?" Joel asked. Brandon looked at Tice who nodded, then imitated his mother.

The next week, they flew to Waldorf to sign papers, then to LA to record their album.

Tice and Joel were walking down a hallway while the band took a break. They were going to a local fast food place to get Brandon something to eat.

"Joel, where are you going?" Benji asked. Joel and Tice turned around. "Tice, whoa . . . didn't notice you. Who's this little fella?"

"This is my son, Brandon. Brandon, say hi to Benji." Tice said. Benji looked shocked.

"Hi, Ben-Benji." Brandon said, shyly. He hid his head in his mother's shoulder.

"What'd you want, Benj?" Joel asked.

" I need to talk to you about a song for the new band. It's urgent." he said. "Where's their manager?"

"You're looking at her." Tice said. Benji smiled. "Can this wait 15 minutes? Brandon is about to pitch a fuss cuz he's hungry."

Benji nodded.

"I'll tell you when you get back. I'll tell Joel about it now." Benji said. Tice took Brandon and left. Benji and Joel went into Benji's office. "Is she married?"

"No." Joel said.

"Who's the dad of Brandon? Pierre?" Benji asked.

"NO, and I'm sworn to secrecy, so if you want to know, she'll tell ya, you just have to ask. Take her out to dinner or something. I'll babysit." Joel said.

"I don't know . . . " Benji started.

"She keeps coming back into your life for a reason ... only she can tell you what that reason is though." Joel said.

"Alright." Benji said.

When Tice got back, Benji asked her to dinner and at first she said no, but then Joel offered to babysit so she couldn't say no.

"So, you've changed a lot huh?" Benji asked as they walked through an empty park.

"Yea." she said. She heard a twig break and jumped. Benji took her hand and smiled at her.

"I've been wondering something." Benji said. "Is Pierre Brandon's father?"

"No." she responded. "Pierre and I never had a physical relationship."

"Who's Brandon's dad then?" Benji questioned. "Why isn't he around?"

"Brandon's dad doesn't know he's a father. I was scared to tell him I was pregnant because he hated me then. I never told him, and I would like to keep it that way, but someone's going to crack, Pierre, Joel and myself are the only three who know." she responded.

"Who is he?" Benji asked. Tice took a deep breath and sat Benji down on a park bench.

"It's you Benji." she responded.

"What? Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asked.

"Because I got scared. You hated me back then. I didn't want to ruin everything you had going back then because -" she started.

"Because what?" Benji asked angrily.

"Because I loved you." she said. A few tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Do you still love me?" he asked, his anger faded.

"Yes." she responded. "I do."

"And I still love you." he said. "How about we give us one more go around? I want to be with you and I want to get to know my kid."

All Tice could do was nod and throw her arms around him.