Bad Day (Mötley Crüe)

Through the Rain

Mick slept on his side as Nikki was curled up under their park bench, hiding from the torrential downpour of LA rain.

He let his arm drape over himself and dangle down over the edge of the bench. He wiggled his fingers and soon felt Nikki's hand grab it.

"You okay?" Mick asked quietly.

"Cold..." Nikki muttered. "Are you okay?"

"No" was all Mick said.

"Do we have enough for a motel?" Nikki asked.

Poor Nikki. Mick could hear his teeth chattering.

"Give me your wallet?" Mick wiggled his fingers again, feeling Nikki put his thin wallet in his hand.

Mick counted their combined cash, and figured maybe it was enough.

"If we're lucky"

"Can we go try?" Nikki asked. Mick didn't even have to look at him, but he nearly said yes every time he used that tone of voice, the kind where a little kid looks up to their parent to ask if they can buy them a toy.

"Yeah... let's go"

Both Nikki and Mick were absolutely drenched from the rain, Mick more so. Mick made sure to run the heat in the car, something they didn't usually do since they needed to save gas.

They got to the motel they always go to. They don't come very often, but they always look like shit when they do. They recognized the girl when they walked in, she helped them the last time they were in. They felt bad, they were sure they looked and smelled like wet dogs.

"How... how much is your cheapest room?" Nikki asked, his teeth chattering.

The poor girl felt for them. She recognized them almost immediately.

"75..." she started to say.

"Fuck..." Mick muttered under his breath. Usually 75 isn't a problem, normally they paid 100 for a two-bed room. But they only had 50 bucks between them.

"But..." the girl looked around at room keys. "I'll cut you a deal" she said, grabbing a room key. "It's a single bed... but no charge" she slid the key towards them.

"You sure?" Mick asked, guilty for not being able to pay.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's not good to be in this kind of weather" she said gently. "Please, just take it"

Mick sighed and looked up at Nikki.

"Please guys?" She urged.

"At least take some payment" Mick said, pulling his wallet out.

"Sorry, register is broken" the girl quickly said. "Before ya flood by lobby" she chuckled.

Mick sighed again.

"Thank you... we... we couldn't sleep in the rain any longer" he said. "Here, go find it" he dropped it in Nikki's hands like it was a shiny thing to play with.

Nikki was like a child.

"I'll be right there" Mick said as he watched Nikki look at the key. "Just, gonna grab a few of our things"

Nikki wandered off down the hall and Mick let out a huge sigh.

"Is he your little brother?" The girl asked as Mick was walking out the door.

"Looks that way, don't it" Mick smiled sadly. "Nah..." he said as he left the lobby and headed towards the car.

He managed to grab both of his guitar cases and Nikki's bass case and a bag of shared clothes. They could lay off the junk tonight.

"Are you in a band?" The girl asked when Mick came back into the lobby.

"Used to, but we're no use to them anymore" he said, rather sadly. "They had their own personal vendetta" he shrugged. "Thank you again" he said before walking down the hall.

He managed to find their room. It is wasn't very hard, Nikki left the door open, waiting on the bed like a puppy.

"Thought you got lost" Nikki smirked. He made grabby hands at his bass case.

"Tch, you're such a kid" Mick teased as he gave Nikki his bass. "Take your shit"

Nikki smiled and took his bass out, mindlessly plucking, giving his hands something to do.

"Mick?"

"Hmm" Mick hummed as he was sat up at the head of the bed, strumming his acoustic guitar quietly, playing along with whatever Nikki was playing.

"Do you... do you think we'll ever have a home?" Nikki suddenly turned sad. Mick could see the tears welling up in his eyes.

"We will, I promise" Mick said gently, he grabbed one of Nikki's hands and held it securely for a moment. "We're almost there... just... a few more months" he sighed.

"Maybe... maybe we should lay off the junk... just for a little, y'know?" Nikki said, looking up at Mick.

"Can you handle that?" Mick asked. He knew Nikki's gone through some pretty gnarly withdrawals.

"I... fuck... maybe we can save enough and shack up here? Just for a few weeks? Maybe I can get a job? Like a real one?"

"Nikki... I mean this in the best way possible, I don't think you're cut out for that..."

Nikki pouted. He knew Mick was right. But he pouted anyways.

"Don't pout" Mick said with no malice. "Why don't you go shower? Put something dry on, I'll take one after you"

Nikki nodded and set his bass back in its case before going to shower. Mick curled up on himself, letting a few tears fall down his pale cheeks.

He promised Nikki that things get better sooner or later. And so far... it's neither of those. Nikki was so young when Mick found him sleeping on the streets. Mick was young too. Mick was 20, and Nikki was 14. They're 32 and 26 now. Mick had almost tripped over Nikki when he found him. He had left his abusive girlfriend's apartment in a panic late one night, he just had to get out of there. He had a black eye, a bloody nose, and a busted cheek.

Nikki wasn't much better off, he looked like his face was beaten in with a brick. Maybe it was. They both cried themselves to sleep that night after sharing their dreams and life stories. Mick had let the tall teenager curl up in his lap. Ever since then, they've been attached at the hip.

Nikki came out of the bathroom a quick 30 minutes later, hair washed and in dry clothes. Mick stood up and stretched his back out a bit, wincing. He sighed and took a shower. Nikki was still sitting in the middle of the bed when he came back out.

Nikki smiled and then yawned, making Mick yawn.

"Fucker"

"Lay down, I'm tired" Nikki whined.

"You're such a baby"

But Mick obliged and laid down. Nikki laid with his feet propped up by Mick's head, and laid his head in the bend of Mick's ankles. He wrapped his lanky arms around Mick's legs and sighed contently.

"Goodnight kid..." Mick ran his hand over Nikki's thigh, since it was all he could reach.

"Night Mick..."