Welcome to the Jungle, Sweetheart

Discussion

          "Wait, what's this girl's name again?" Duff asked, taking another sip of vodka.

             Axl sighed, "C'mon Duffle pay attention. It's Michelle Kimberly Young." Duff nodded, slightly offended Axl called him out on not paying attention. But Axl was just brutally honest with people like that.

               Izzy looked at him funny and cocked an eyebrow, "And you're certain it's not your kid?"

            Axl crossed his arms nodding, "Yeah, I asked her, like, three times. She just doesn't know much about the father or how to contact him, but she knows its not me."

Steven shook his head. "It's a shame, 'cause that red hair on a baby? That would be so adorable."

            Duff nodded his head agreeingly. "Aww, Axl you must've been so cute as wittle kid."

            Axl flipped his hair, "Honey please I was always this gorgeous... But my hair became redder when I was like nine. So like, until then I was mostly dark blonde."

         Duff's jaw dropped at him. "You were a blonde?" Axl nodded with a shrug. "Sorta, it was mostly just a little auburn, but it started to get really red around fourth grade."

Izzy eyed at him, "How do you know this girl exactly, Axl?"

            Axl took a drink from his wine glass. "We met at a party, that one on the eighth? Well, technically we met the next morning on the ninth when I was leaving."

              Slash turned his gaze on him. "Wait, the ninth? Like, that morning when we found you half-dead, sleeping on the sidewalk?" Axl didn't say anything, just avoided eye contact and took another sip of his wine.

             He never really talked about it and the guys never brought it up, which he was grateful for.

             His brain told him that he had no reason to care about the whole thing at all, but he felt a sharp pain at the bottom of his stomach slowly gnawing at him. He was... He could hardly even think of a word to describe it.

            Ashamed?

            No, not quite ashamed.

            It was that he felt really regretful about it almost. He worried Slash.

            He felt like he should be mad at him for getting all fretful over him like he was some little kid he had to look out for or his responsibility. He was a fully grown man who could handle himself... But his handling himself left him unconscious on the street... But he wasn't Slash's problem.

             But he still felt guilty, he didn't want Slash to be anxious all the time like him, and he made him like that because of what he did, and he felt guilty for it.

             But he could never say that, or show that he felt guilt about it, because that would be showing weakness.

Vulnerability.

It would be admitting that he couldn't take care of himself.

Over my dead body.

Steven questioned out loud, snapping Axl from his thoughts, "But where would she stay? We don't have any room! Duff and I already share a room!"

            Izzy bit his lip. "Actually Stevie, that's uh, not true." Steven whipped around to face him.

"What?"

           Axl nodded, agreeing with Izzy, "Yeah, Steven we actually have the basement. We just uh, didn't tell you because we didn't want to clean it." Everybody else nodded.