Never Letting Go (Axl Rose)

Three

TW: Mentions of rape, abuse, self-harm all three of these are talked about.

Stuart spent the rest of his day painting and decorating his room with posters, live nudes neon lights, LED's around the ceiling, his skateboard, guitar, and amp in the corner of his room, a dresser against his wall, his bed pushed sideways against the wall, a table with a lamp by the head of the bed with playboy magazines lying on it. 

Sitting on his bed -which had a Van Halen bed cover- Stuart examined his room smiling at the progress he made knowing he could never have done this with Stephan and Sharon. 

Stephan and Sharon, Stuart's mom and dad. Despite hating their guts fr the longest time, Stuart missed his home. Sharon would nurse Stuart and Amy when Stephan was harsh on them. She would pull the children from the closets or the laundry room help them shower after they had been brutally raped by their father. Sharon had been good to them. Even though she wouldn't step in and would wait until the damage had been done to the children before helping them, she did care about her kids. 

Stuart laid on his back thinking about the day he was told he was going with his brother. It had been too long since he had seen Axl. Axl went his own way without rules and Stuart looked up to that, he wanted to be like his older brother. He wanted to play by his own rules. Axl had shown him multiple times that he wasn't scared to get arrested or to be himself. Axl was successful and seemed happy in Stuart's eyes. 

Stuart brought his arm up and rolled down his sleeve, looking at the fading scars on his pale skin. His lip quivered as he observed the damage he had done to himself. 

"Stuart," Axl said softly as he walked into the room. Stuart jumped up and wiped his eyes. "Axl! How do you like the room?!" the younger said with a smile trying to distract Axl from the obvious problem. "I think I did a good job!" "Yeah, it looks good, Stu," Axl said looking around the rooms. "Just remind me not to let Amy in here." Stuart giggled. "She's fourteen, Axl, I think she knows what all this means." "I like to keep her innocent for just a bit, longer," Axl said. "I see I couldn't get to you in time." Stuart laughed as he lay back in his bed. "You're an idiot," he said. Axl laid with him and laughed. "Playboys?" Axl asked. "Oh shut up!" Stuart said. "What were you crying for, Stuart?" Axl asked. "I don't wanna talk about it," Stuart said. "Okay, but if you ever want to talk you can come to me, you know that right?" Axl asked. "Yeah," Stuart said. "I just don't feel comfortable talking about it right now." "And that's alright, I just want you to know you can talk to me if you want," Axl said. "Thanks," Stuart said sitting up. Axl mimicked his movement. Stuart wrapped his arms around Axl's neck and smiled. 

.

.

.

Around midnight, Stuart called Zach's number and waited as the phone rang. Maybe it was too late to be calling the boy's number. After all he worked all day, he's probably tired. Stuart contemplated hanging up and trying tomorrow when he heard a honey sweet voice on the other end.

"Hello?" Asked Zach.

"Hey, it's me... Stuart!"

"Hey, Stuart! I was wondering when you would call!"

"Y- yeah."

Stuart fiddled with the end of his shirt nervously. He didn't know why he was so awkward over the phone.

"Well, do you wanna go skateboarding tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Stuart thought he sounded too eager. "I mean... I mean... Yeah!" He replied in a more monotone voice causing Zach to laugh.

"Alright, Stuart, see you at the skatepark at twelve tomorrow!"

"Alright, bye, Zach!" Stuart said.

The line went dead and Stuart dropped onto his bed letting out a relieved sigh that he didn't fuck up.

He couldn't wait until the next day when he would see Zach. The boy had wiggled his way into Stuart's heart and was on the road to become his best friend. Stuart never had a friend before, this would be a great experience. As long as he didn't fuck it up.