destinesia | gnr

witchy woman

1990

"WOW, ITS SO BEAUTIFUL." Calliope gushed over the engagement ring on Duff's Fiancé-Linda's finger. Linda blushed a bit and gave Duff a peck on his cheek. "When are you gonna put a rock on my finger, baby?" She nudged Izzy's shoulder.

Jackie rolled her eyes from the other end of the table and looked over at Erin and Axl. "Baby.." she mouthed, shaking her head. Axl laughed into his cup but quickly disguised it as a cough when Erin stomped on his foot. She had trouble holding her laughter in too though.

Jackie sat with Mason on one side and Erin on the other, Axl next to her, of course at the head of the table, then Slash, and of course Vicki was planted right in front of Jackie.. then there was Matt Sorum, the new drummer and his girl, then fucking Calliope and Izzy, leaving the other head of the table empty, then Linda next to Duff who was on Mason's other side.

Jackie was slumped in her chair, staring at the ceiling to avoid everyone's gaze since they all seemed to have something against her. She and Izzy stayed quiet the entire time while everybody else led the conversation. She'd occasionally make a comment to Erin that Vicki would hear and laugh a little and add something on. Jackie tried her hardest not to make it awkward for Vicki, cause she had nothing on her, but it was still a little weird for her to get used to.

Jackie was tired. From the crying and the vomiting, she couldn't even eat out of fear that it would just come right back up, leaving her plate untouched. She just wanted to go home. To Seattle. Back to the small rainy town she called home, cuddled up in blankets on her couch while she and Mason watched MTV. Back to how it was before Izzy ever showed up at her doorstep.

A few times throughout dinner she'd hang her head when the rumbling in her stomach came back, or the black fuzziness blurred her vision. Slash had seen that behavior before and was on the edge of his seat, ready to help her if she needed it. He'd glance over at her every time Calliope would make an insensitive comment.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom." Jackie whispered to Mason. He nodded and kept an eye on her while she walked away, until she was out of view. Slash turned his head to watch her too, then turned back and immediately locked eyes with Mason who gave him a weird look.

Jackie stopped in the middle of the small hallway as her chest began rising and falling quickly again. Although her lungs were opening, it was like she couldn't even get any air in them.

"Not right now." She whispered, counting to 20 in attempt to avoid another panic attack. She heard heavy footsteps behind her until two hands slithered around her waist. His hands. Slash's hands. She could also feel his curls tickling her face as he rested his head on her shoulder. Her breathing hitched a bit before she turned over in his arms and completely lost it.

If it weren't for his strong hold on her she would've fallen to her knees on the floor, but he held her tightly while she cried. It wasn't even just the whole thing with Izzy and Calliope, it was so much more. From the moment she left California, she let no tears fall whatsoever.. until Axl and Steven came back into the picture, then eventually Izzy. She'd also been holding in a dam of tears after meeting Vicki.

"Why do you even care?" She pulled away swiftly, hugging her arms around herself. "Because, Jack-"

"No!" She cut him off. "You have a beautiful girl out there waiting for you-while you're here, doing anything that could possibly get you back into my life!" She wasn't sure if she made any sense right now, but she needed to get it out. "I'm sure your girlfriend doesn't appreciate you leaving dinner to tend to your ex's needs." She muttered, averting her eyes to the fake plant in the corner.

"Girlfriend?" Slash raised his eyebrows, blinking at her.

"Yeah!" She gestured her hand in the direction of the table. "Vick?" She said when he didn't get the hint.

He chuckled a bit and hung his head low. "I don't see what's amusing in this whole thing." She murmured, hugging herself tighter.

"Jack, Vicki isn't my girlfriend."

She kept her eyes to the ground before slowly looking up at him. "She's not?" She sniffled.

"No!" Slash couldn't help but laugh at the situation. He walked a little closer to her. "No, she kinda just started hanging around and we got pretty close, but we aren't dating. Vick doesn't even like men."

"So you just replaced me?" Jackie remarked. "With a lesbian? 'Cause you knew she'd never date you?"

"What?" Slash shook his head. "She was hanging around the studio when we got there and helped out a bit."

"So you did replace me." She lifted her chin a bit and raised an eyebrow. She was having fun torturing him now.

Slash sighed, rubbing his temples. "I'm just fuckin' with you." She said, nudging his shoulder. He looked back up at her and laughed a bit. "The reason I was so eager to introduce you was 'cuz I thought you two were really alike- and you'd get along, but..." he trailed off.

She made some sort of 'O' sound with her mouth.

"I can't go back out there." She whined, dropping to the floor and sitting down. "Come on, just a little bit longer. They're probably done eating anyway." Slash said, holding a hand out for her.

She hummed 'mm-mm' in response while shaking her head.

Slash sighed. "Alright, where do you wanna go then?" He crouched down to be at eye level with her. A grin slowly spread across her face as she stood up, smoothing her dress down and walking toward the back door.

"Seriously? We have to go out the back?" He grumbled. "You're that afraid of seeing everybody?"

Jackie didn't reply but grabbed the sleeve of his leather jacket and pulled him out the door. "Where's your car?"

"My car? Why do we have to take mine?!" He whisper-yelled.

"Oh my god, stop being a baby, would you?" She rolled her eyes, scanning the area for his car. "Izzy has the keys to the rental and yours is cooler anyway." She pointed when she spotted the black vehicle.

~

"Late at night, a big old house gets lonelyyy..." Jackie sang along loudly to the Eagles song playing on the radio. "I guess every form of refuge has its priiiice.."

Slash was having a hard time seeing the road clearly through his tears from laughing so hard.

"And it breaks her heart, to think her love is only..." Slash sang the next line. "Given to a man with hands as cold as ice..."

Jackie paid a little too much attention to those lyrics and averted her attention to her lap, fumbling around with her fingers. Slash noticed this and took her hand from her lap, accidentally grazing over her thigh in the process.

"Hey, do you think we can go back to the house real quick?" She asked. He let go of her hand to turn down the stereo volume and look over at her. "I just think I'm gonna get a hotel instead... I don't wanna stay there with..." she trailed off.

Slash nodded in understanding. "Yeah." He smiled softly at her to which she returned.

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