Brighter | I. Stradlin

5

IZZY'S POV

It surprised me, not gonna lie. I slightly pushed away her offer at first, hesitating to kiss her. We made our way back to our booth, where Axl and Lauren still sat. Lauren laughed at her friend's messiness, a bit out of amusement but I could tell she was uncomfortable with the state Dani was in. Axl nudged me as Danielle begged for me to pay attention to her. Lauren whispered something in his ear, and they instantly disappeared to the bar. Finally I gave in, first taking her hand and kissing it. She put her drink down and gave me a satisfied look. "What else do you got?" She giggled softly, leaning back. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her in. "I don't really do PDA," I mumbled to her. She groaned and push herself away. "Stop teasing, it's mean."

"Okay fine, your place or mine?" And she instantly found herself pulling me up and out of the bar. "I'm guessing you live with your bandmates," she stated. I smiled, "Well, yeah."

"Awesome, my place only has one other person."

* * *

DANI'S POV

Oh, sunshine has never been more annoying. I should have closed the blinds before I fell asleep...

I turned to see Izzy fast asleep, his chest slowly rising and falling as he softly snored. I didn't panic. I mean, I could remember getting annoyed with him, just 'cause he was hard to turn on. Or at least, he had a good poker face since he was in my bed. The more I reminisced last night, the more nauseous I got. Especially when I realized the nausea was part of the small withdraw process I had signed up for. I did my best to slip away from Izzy and the bed, into Lauren's bathroom, instead of my bathroom. It was further, and maybe I wouldn't wake him. I tied my hair as I raced away, praying I would find any remaining puke later on. It didn't take long for me to puke my guts out. It also didn't take Izzy long to come find me. He kneeled down, pushing away stray baby hairs out of my face and rubbing my back. I pushed away his arm from my back, as it wasn't helping but making it way more uncomfortable. "Damn, that hit you pretty good, didn't it?" He mumbled sleepily. I groaned and sat against the tub. "Never again," I complained, once again hovering over the toilet. He laughed at my statement, probably knowing it was shit. I kicked him as I did my best to pull myself back together. "You want me to run a bath or something? I don't know if you'll get hot flashes or anything like that, but maybe it'll help you feel better?" He offered. I shook my head, "I got it, but do you mind getting breakfast? The fridge is empty and I know I'll be starving after my stomach settles."

He instantly got up and seconds later I heard the door close. I began to run the shower and hopped in. Letting the warm water fall onto my skin, I wondered about Izzy. He had declined the drugs before I let him know it was okay. That meant a lot to me. I wasn't the only one worried about impressions, but it also showed he cared more about seeing me with a sober mind than never remembering me on a high. But no matter how much he cared, he still had an addiction. So did I. And last night could ruin a lot that I had going including my sobriety.

I left the shower along with my shower thoughts, and walked along to my room wrapped in a towel. I played some AC DC from my turntable. My collection of vinyls was limited. I only had the Beatles, AC DC and Tom Petty. Lauren had more but I never bothered to sneak and steal any of them. I picked out a simple black tank and a brown maxi floral skirt. Stevie Nicks had a lot of influence on my style I guess you could say.

Before Izzy showed, I decided to call around for Lauren. My guess would be the apartment, I could vaguely remember Axl doing his best to woo her.

When I called, Slash picked up. He sounded as hungover as one could be, but by the giggles in the back he had company.

"Heyo?"

"Hey Slash, it's Dani. Is Lauren there?"

He sounded absolutely confused at first, asking who I was again and asking what Lauren looked like. He must have been more wasted than I judged at first.

"Oh! Lauren, the girl with Axl!" Said Steven in the background. Megan scolded them and the phone began to shake with echos of clashing. "Give me the phone, Slash," Megan groaned. He laughed, and then his voice was replaced with her's. "Yeah, she's here Dani. You want me to get her?" Megan sweetly asked. "Nope, it's all good. Just tracking her down."

Megan laughed, "She was worried that you would end up here so she came along. She freaked out, but Izzy made sure to check in before she called the police."

I didn't bother to ask when he did. It wouldn't matter to me, not like I remembered much of anything to begin with. "So tell me, was he as good as you were hoping?"

I could hear Duff and Slash arguing and shaming her for asking, but Charlie would ask the same. I felt my cheeks burn. "I don't kiss and tell."

* * *

"So, tell me something I don't know," he laughed as he studied my bookshelf in my room. We had a perfect view to people watch from my window, so we sat there and ate our breakfast burritos. He got bored and began to study my bland room for something interesting. "What do you mean?" I giggled. He looked confused yet completely entertained by my book collection. "Quite the bookworm and it's not even fun reading!"

He flipped through one of my favorite history book, the one I found the Kleenex story in. "Hey now! It is fun!" I protested, throwing a pillow at him. He dodged it with the book, then replaced the book to its place. "Nerd," he teased. "I know what you are but what am I?" 

He just smiled but I could tell he was holding back saying something. Instead of saying anything, he climbed his way onto my bed. He laid back, letting his head rest in my lap. "I like you," he flashed a dork smile, causing a swarm of butterflies to arise in my chest. "I like you too."