You Could Be Mine

Axl - Part 21

Axl

I take a dripping water bottle out of a cooler and crack it open, immediately drinking the cool liquid.
A few roadies walk by me, some patting my shoulder and congratulating me on a good show.
It was an average show.
Nothing too special.
I mostly avoided Slash and clung onto Izzy and Duff.
It felt odd being distant from him, but I think it was something I needed to do.
For the both of us.
I knew it was mostly for me, but I didn't want to admit it.
Izzy walks up to me, taking a water bottle from the cooler.
"Hi." he says, drinking his water.
"Hi." I respond, noticing Slash walking around a few feet away from us.
I try to avoid looking at him, but my eyes trail back up to him.
I've always loved the way he looked after shows. Sweaty and completely drained of his energy, having used it all during our show.
It was sexy in such a weird way.
I shake my head, trying to stop my thoughts.
I take another long sip of my water and throw it back into the cooler, getting a strange look from a random worker.
I look back up at Slash, who's holding his sweaty curls behind his head.
God I loved his hair.
What I'd give to...
"Does anyone have a hairband?" he asks, looking around and getting shrugs from everyone around him.
God damnit.
I sigh and start walking up to him, removing a hairband from my wrist.
"Here you go." I say, holding it out for him.
Slash stares at me for a moment before taking it. "Thanks." he replies, smiling softly.
I nod my head and walk away, letting my unconsciously held breath out.
I head back towards Izzy direction, who gives me a look.
"What?" I ask, raising my eyebrow.
Izzy rolls his eyes and grabs onto my arm, dragging me into a separate room.
Izzy shuts the door behind me and sits me down on a couch.
He stands above me, placing his hands on his hips, acting like a goddamn mother.
"Am I in trouble?" I ask, smirking.
Izzy rolls his eyes again, plopping down next to me.
"So... can we talk?"
"About?" I ask, already knowing exactly what he meant.
"I'm not trying to push you or anything... I just want to help you... with Slash." Izzy says, gently grabbing onto a loose strand of his black hair and running his fingers through it.
"What do you mean 'help'? There's nothing to 'help' with. It was just a huge fucking mistake and something I need to get over." I reply, anger rising in my voice, as I avoid eye contact.
"Right... ok. Well never mind then." Izzy says, standing up and starting to walk away.
"Wait. Where are you going?" I ask, regret hanging in my voice, as I look back up at Izzy.
"Probably back to the hotel. I'm fucking tired." he says, grabbing a lighter and a cigarette from his pocket.
I nod my head, looking down at my feet.
"Just... talk to Slash. Please?" Izzy says, lighting the cigarette between his lips.
I nod my head again, smiling softly.
Izzy smiles in return and leaves me in the room.
I sigh loudly, rubbing my forehead.
What the hell would I even say to Slash?
I wasn't even sure if I was right about everything being a mistake.
It felt right... but so fucking wrong.
Why couldn't I make up my damn mind?
Slash seemed to know what he wanted.
Me.
He wanted me right?
"No he didn't. Why would he want you? Why would he want..."
I bit my lip, trying to contain a scream.
"Fuck. Off." I mutter, standing up and walking out of the room.
I walk back to the main room and search for Slash.
"Hey, have you seen Slash?" I ask a roadie, who was walking by me.
She shakes her head no and continues on her way.
I ask a few other workers around, getting the same answers.
"I think I saw Slash, Duff and Steven go out to a bar together or something." a roadie finally says, rolling a cart of supplies away.
"Thanks." I mutter, imagining Slash finding a hot girl to hook up with... or worse a hot guy...
"Hey Axl!" Alan yells out, pulling me back from my mind.
"Hey." I reply, tucking my hair behind my ear.
"Do you know where everyone is? I wanted to set up a group meeting and talk about some tour stuff." Alan says, getting to me and shuffling through some papers in his hands.
"Uh, Izzy went back to the hotel, and I think the others are at a nearby bar." I say, my hair falling back in front of my face.
Alan nods his head, looking down at the papers again.
"Alright, I'll go see if anyone's seen the others and if not we'll set the meeting up for tomorrow." he says, looking up at me.
I nod my head, Alan smiling back at me.
"Great. I'll see ya then."
Alan gives me a pat on the shoulder and starts to walk away.
I wave goodbye and shove my hands into my pockets, starting to walk out towards the stage.
I push past the heavy curtain that concealed the outside of the stage, and walked out onto the platform.
My eyes scanned the empty venue, wondering how it was once crowded with screaming fans only minutes ago.
I move to sit on the end of the stage, my feet hanging off the edge.
I gently swing my feet back and forth, feeling like a small child sitting on a normal sized chair.
I hear shuffling behind me, making me turn around, where a few workers walked down the stage to clean up the venue.
I smiled in their directions, getting no acknowledgement in return.
I watched them start to clean away the memories of our show.
It would be like we were never here.
"Uhm... Mr. Rose?" a roadie behind me says.
I turn around, meeting eyes with a young guy with long brown hair and soft brown eyes.
"Yes?" I reply, a bit of my hair falling over my face.
I blow it out of my eyes, as the roadie smiles awkwardly.
"I uh- Alan wanted me to find you. He wants to set up the meeting now." the guys says, picking at his name tag.
He wanted to set it up now?
I didn't think everyone would be here.
"Oh. Alright. Where is the meeting at?" I ask, pulling myself onto my feet.
"Follow me." he says, starting to turn around and walk off the stage.
I follow the roadie, catching up to him.
"What's your name?" I ask, running my fingers through my hair.
"Tommy."
I nod my head, as Tommy leads me down a hall and into a dark room.
He turns the light on, revealing an empty room.
"Where is everyone?" I ask,
nervously turning around to face the roadie.
Tommy shuts the door behind him, looking down at his feet.
"They're not here... I just wanted to be with you... alone."
I rub my arm, slowly backing up.
"What?" I ask, receiving a small smile from Tommy.
"I overheard your conversation with Izzy. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just so happened to hear that you were interested in... well... men." he says, stepping closer to me.
I gulp softly, my mind fogging as Tommy grabs onto my arms.
"And well, I'm interested in men too. Especially you, Mr. Rose." he whispers in my ear, his lips grazing the skin near my ear.
I flinch, trying to get away from him, but he keeps a harsh grip on me.
"Where ya goin' Rose? Don't ya like me?" Tommy asks, his face moving back towards mine.
I shake my head no, my head starting to spin.
"Why not?" he asks, a small smile forming on his lips.
I try to shake him away, all of my strength seeming to have disappeared.
"I think you do like me." Tommy says, leaning forward and pressing his lips harshly onto mine.
I gasp, trying to shove him away.
Memories starting to reflood my mind.
Memories of my childhood.
I finally get away from Tommy, who looks at me strangely.
"What's the matter? Aren't you gay?" he asks, annoyance present in his voice.
"I'm not gay!" I yell out, regaining my strength again.
"Trust me. I know a fag when I see one."
Tommy scoffs, looking me up and down.
My heart beats faster, at those words.
I push him away and storm out of the room, slamming the door behind me.
"Trust me. I know a fag when I see one."
What did that even mean?
I didn't even know if I was gay!
How could someone else know?
I storm down the hall, past a few worried roadies and out of the venue.
A burst of fresh air hits my face like a slap, but I push through it, walking on and deciding to find the hotel.
I had to finally figure things out.
Even if I didn't want to.
I had to find Slash.

Hey everyone! Writers block sucks ass!! But I'm back now and hopefully getting back into writing! I'm doing my best! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Love you all!- Adler ❤️