Brighter | I. Stradlin

14

IZZY'S POV

"Remember last summer?" Steven reminisced. Duff laughed quietly as he busied himself in the kitchen with Charlie by him. Meggie was nowhere to be found, probably off with Beau.

Since Dani left, Beau came around more and Megan did not seem to mind.

"Wait, what happened last summer?" Charlie asked. She was completely oblivious, that wouldn't last long. "Before he met Danielle, right when Duff had met you, Izzy was arrested for public disturbance," Steven stated with a teasing tone. "So technically, you're supposed to be..."

"Being a rockstar comes with advantages...sometimes," Duff said. I felt a bit ashamed, for a lot of reasons but faking sobriety was one main reason. "So can you go back home?" Charlie asked. I nodded, "I've been thinking about it actually."

Steven and Duff looked up at me instantly. "About going home? Axl is gonna throw a fit," Steven giggled. Duff shrugged, "We have an album to write, man."

"I can do that from Indiana, I'll send it over whenever I have anything."

DANI'S POV

"Wait Charlie...He what?" I yelled.

"He read your letter! According to Meg and Lauren, he wanted to come see you."

I had a jolt of happiness, then a little disappointment. "Wanted?"

"We aren't gonna let him come see you when he's not sober, Dani."

"Well yeah, that's true."

"He went home, to Lafayette. I think he wants to get better, or at least...wants to try to."

I smiled big, my mom teased me as she passed by me. "So happy," she cooed. "Indiana right?" I asked Charlie, swatting at my mom's hand as she tried to rub my head.

"Yep...I have a good feeling about this. Duff seems to be doing better too, if I'm being honest. This is..."

"A lot."

IZZY'S POV

"Oh my God, Jeffery!"

My mom instantly comes running up to me, as soon as she sees me. She wraps me a tight hug, and starts pulling me along. "That friend of your's, Michael right? Well anyway, he told me you were coming in and I was absolutely shocked. I haven't heard from you since..."

We hopped in the car as she kept rambling. It was amusing, to see how happy my mom could be just because I showed up. It was always hard to come home. I always felt guilty. I left a lot, abandoning my mom and my brother. To be fair, I made it pretty big and it's helped my mom. That just doesn't make up lost time.

She looked over before she pulled out of the driveway, analyzing me well. "Oh hun, what happened? You were doing so good."

I laughed stiffly, looking down at my hands. I was shaking like crazy. I was cold and hungry. I hadn't really felt like this in a while, the part that was always most difficult and which really sucked. The come down from the high.

"I was doing good. I met a really...amazing girl. After she left, I..."

My mom didn't say anything, she just smiled. It was a mix of sympathy and pure happiness. "Michael mentioned her. She seems to be somewhat of a good influence though. You looked really good at the MTV Award show."

My mom laughed, then held her hand over her mouth as she tried to stop. "They caught it on camera?" I asked. She shook her head, "It was all over the news though."

I forgot about that, I haven't picked up a news paper in so long. Or a magazine, for that matter.

"What's her name?" Mom asked, keeping her eyes on the road as she interrogated me. "Danielle Nicholes," I smiled. "She reads a lot, really smart. Moved to LA around when I did, apparently."

The whole ride home, my mom got stories of Dani. Especially the one where we first met.

DANI'S POV

"I'm gonna go look at the cooking books, just to see if there's any pastry ones I can pick at."

My mom patted my shoulder as she ran off, like a kid in a candy store. She loved her local Barnes and Noble.

I went off into the biography section, just to see if there was anything interesting. I scanned and as I did, I came across The Renaissance of Rock n Roll. It made me smile and giggle just a bit to myself. Izzy would have never picked up a book, but the book reminded me of him a little. The book started when the Beatles and Rolling Stones began and who their influences were. He loved the Rolling Stones. Almost equivalent to my love of Steven Tyler and Aerosmith, if I were to be honest.

"Uh Dani?"

I instantly stood up and looked for who called my name. As soon as I noticed the blonde, blue eyed drummer, I squeaked out a small yelp of excitement. I jumped up from the ground, and wrapped him in a hug. "Wait Stevie, what are you doing here?"

He let a small sigh out, distancing himself and adjusting his sunglasses. "Megan kinda like...I don't know, dumped me. I missed you, I didn't know what else to do..."

He kept rambling. He was sad and tired. Steven usually was a bright ball of energy but this time...he just broke. I felt horrible, and absolutely shocked.

The more he talked, the more I figured out how messy things were getting in LA.

"Axl is kind of being an ass too, I didn't wanna be around that. I think he wants me out."

"Oh my God, no. Don't say that, I'm sure he's just stressed out with Izzy off in Indiana..."

Steven's eyes lit up a small bit, like my reason was enough convincing and reassuring. He looked like a sad, lost puppy. I really just wanted to hug him and cheer him up.

"Come on, you can stay with us for a bit. That sounds good, right?"