Brighter | I. Stradlin

6

DANI'S POV

(1977)

Sophomore year had been shit. My grades had fallen into high C's and low B's. My parents were in the process of divorce. My money I put into my new art project was wasted. The shelf looked good in a way, it just didn't turn out the way I wanted. My flowers that I had painted on the shelf looked like blobs of nothing. This last school day just wasn't a good one.

"Dani?" Eric called out. His brunette head popped in, and he instantly flashed me a smile. "Hey! How about we go to the beach? Lauren said she'll drive us," He excitedly told. I shook my head and threw myself back onto my bed. I felt the urge to cry. I felt so defeated today. The beach sounded nice, but being sunburned was all I thought of. Every negative thing that could have came from that situation ran through my mind. As soon as he noticed something wasn't right, he picked me up and cuddled me. I was caught off guard. Eric loved his cuddles, but he usually waited for a more calming, happy moment. He loved when I turned the TV on, and brought out popcorn like I would actually eat it. Usually he would finish the bowl and I would fall asleep before the show ended.

"You wanna talk about it?" He mumbled. His touch was comforting. I could have fallen asleep right there. He smelled of vanilla, probably from me, and a strong scent of forest-y cologne. I didn't wanna leave. "It's been absolute crap today," I complained. He cooed a sigh and brushed out my hair with his hand. "It couldn't have been that bad. It was the last day of school today, you aren't excited?" He tried to shed light. Thank God for him or I would be completely pessimistic. I shrugged and peeled myself off of him. I wiped my cheeks, ridding of tears.

"I miss you."

I instantly sat up in a cold sweat. Izzy didn't hesitant to check on me since he was next to me. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and looked towards me. "You alright?"

I couldn't just spill every little thing, could I? Three days, I could scare him off by telling him half the shit that's wrong with me. Eric wasn't just a friend that I met through Lauren. It was the opposite. I met her through Eric. I had just started dating him freshman year, and he wanted me to meet his sister. He moved to LA with me after graduation. We had plans, but even that wasn't enough. How could I even begin to explain that to Izzy without scaring him off?

I didn't notice how freaked out I had been until I began lose control over my emotions. Izzy's eyes widened and enveloped me in a hug, rocking me side to side. "Hey now," he cooed. I gasped for small calming breathes and struggled to keep myself from slipping away from his hug. I could barely keep myself from completely breaking and dropping. Izzy noticed, continuing to rock me and began to rub my back. He also began to hum a small melody. It wasn't familiar. I didn't recognize it as the Stones or the Ramones, two bands Izzy showed favor for. "Take it slow and things will be just fine," he sang. I sighed and separated from his embrace as I began to calm down a bit. I apologized but all he did was laugh shortly. "For what? It's okay."

He was so sweet, I couldn't help but feel bad. I smiled faintly, "You probably think I'm crazy," I scoffed, wiping tears away.

He laughed once again, "You can't even compare to crazy, Dani. Trust me, I've seen it."

* * *

IZZY'S POV

"They're alive!" Steven exclaimed as I guided Dani into the diner. All the boys sat at a booth, Charlie and Megan were taking orders. We joined the guys, but it didn't take long for both waitresses to greet us. "Hey Iz! Dani," Meggie sang happily. Danielle flashed a smile, "Hey ladies, fancy seeing you here," she joked. I was in a standoffish mood ever since Danielle had rubbed off her breakdown from early afternoon. We had eaten breakfast, and we both fell asleep. Maybe twenty minutes later, she was awake and freaking out. She wouldn't tell me anything though. She said it was nothing, kissed me like it would make me forget. Now, she seemed completely fine.

Megan took our orders, Charlie cleaned off what trash was on the table. "So Danielle, you have fun last night?" Slash smiled mischievously. Lauren was between him and Axl, I sat next to Steven and Danielle was on the other side of me. "What part are you referring to, Slash?" She said, rubbing her left ear. I noticed that when she was nervous or embarrassed, she did that out of habit. A coping mechanism of sorts, I guess.

"What part? There was more than just the partying?" Axl teased, definitely pushing for her to admit we slept together. She shrugged, "You didn't get that when I was all over Iz?" She mumbled sheepishly. Slash laughed loudly, Steven nudged me, and Axl looked shocked. I don't think he was expecting her to be so honest as she was. I was sort of surprised myself. "Did you have fun, Lauren?" Danielle turned over the embarrassment. Lauren's face dropped from amused to shame. Axl looked grumpy at first but when she leaned into him, his mood lightened. We all teased them and continued to joke around, like usual. Duff showed up a bit later, explaining that Charlie never woke him up. "Dude, it's like 2:30," Slash stated nonchalantly. Duff shrugged and smirked, "Partied a little too hard."

I didn't doubt that but Steven pointed out that Duff hadn't had that much to drink. "Leave me alone already," he snapped. Charlie happened to be handing Danielle a drink when he did. "Dude what's wrong with you?" Axl giggled. Duff didn't look like himself, he looked like a whole mess with the opposite personality. Danielle gave me a confused look, and I didn't have anything to give her except a shrug. "Like I said, I partied too hard."

Charlotte laughed stiffly, "Hope you enjoyed having Mandy back in bed. I definitely loved having to spend the night with the boys and their friends."

I glared over to him, but he already felt guilty enough by the look on his face. He was pissed that she told everyone, but he looked hurt by that she could be so ruthless. I didn't blame her though. He and Mandy had been long done when he met Charlie. It made absolutely no sense for him to cheat, in her bed too.

* * *

"Hey Izzy," Charlie called as Danielle and I began to walk out. Axl, Lauren and us were the last ones in the diner. But I was getting restless and Danielle silently begged for a smoke. The whole time that we had sat there to hangout, she itched and picked at her arms and even played with my lighter.

"Can we go? I don't need Lauren scolding me for smoking, and I desperately need one right about now."

So we rushed away, only for Charlie to stall us.

"I was wondering if you'd be okay if either Duff or I stay with you guys. The rest of them seemed completely alright, but I wanted to see if it would be a problem."

I shook my head, "I don't know if Slash is willing to share his room again though, I don't know if you'll be willing to deal with his hookups either," I laughed. She smiled faintly, "Better than silently ruining myself over this," She gestured to Duff, who was also walking out. Danielle cleared her throat, "Why don't you room with us for a bit? We don't have an extra room but we have a couch."

Charlotte smiled brightly, "You don't mind?"

Danielle shook her head, "Maybe we can bond over our love for idiots."

Her laugh that followed was sweet and sent me over the moon with happiness. Three days in, and I was beginning to believe I was falling in love. She had me wrapped around her finger, that's for sure.