Brütal • Mötley Crüe •

Nineteen • A Rose by Any Other Name...

Warnings: Language, Drug & Alcohol Use

December 11, 1982

The cops never came for Halston after what happened at the club.

She spent the next two weeks in a constant state of anxiety, obsessively glancing over her shoulder and finding alternate routes to work that wouldn't require walking across the Rainbow's front steps.

She never saw any newspapers articles or heard any hushed gossip, and if any of the girls at work had heard anything about it then they didn't mention it.

She wasn't sure if the police just didn't have enough evidence to follow through on any charges, or if she'd actually petrified the poor girl into complete silence- the latter was the more likely option- but it didn't really matter.

Her time would come eventually.

Meanwhile, she just wrote it off as yet another blessing she didn't deserve and did her best to make living amends by cleaning up her behavior.

She hadn't gotten into any altercations or even a heated argument in six weeks, and to call that an accomplishment would've been a gross understatement.

Especially considering the time of year they happened to be dead in the middle of.

The holiday season kept her impaled in a morose state of mind, too busy grieving everything she didn't have as a kid to enjoy everything she did have now.

All of the memorable, traditionally exhilarating and wondrous days (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years/the anniversary of her unfortunate birth) were within the span of sixty-two days, and it was the worst sixty-two days of the year for Halston.

She tried to spend those days as any other- either working or splitting her time between Nikki when he wasn't playing a gig and Jenny when she wasn't at work- but it was obvious that Halston was a little more reserved and detached than usual.

She was grateful that Thanksgiving was always reserved to a Thursday, a work day, and she was grateful that Nick was too greedy to close down the club in honor of it.

There was just too much money to be made on the lonely divorcées and excommunicated family members looking for a little companionship to fill the gaping hole in their lives made unavoidable by the holiday.

It was quite possibly the weirdest group of men she'd ever tended to during her short time at the Seventh Veil, but she couldn't complain.

She was one in the same.

And Nikki, the ever-evolving gentleman, spent the entirety of the night at the table closest to her bar just to keep her company.

Vince and Tommy had fucked off to their respective families, but Nikki didn't have the means to travel all the way back to Idaho, nor would he have ever left Halston to suffer alone.

He'd taken note of her sullen and moody demeanor. Things she used to respond to with anger and a sharp tongue were now met with sadness and a deep frown that looked as if she was constantly keeping score of her life's value.

She was depressed and he knew it, and he would've given up anything to see even a sliver of a smile burst across her face.

Besides, she was his family now.

She was his number one priority after Mötley, and even then they were basically ranked at the same importance. He'd decided that he could have two number one priorities if he so desired, because he was the one making the rules.