Book 5: I'll Wait, Dear (Steven Adler FanFic)

Ch. 21: I'll Wait, Dear

"Wh-where am I?" I choked out, my vision still not regaining it's usual strength despite opening my eyes and blinking furiously. I tried to sit up, but fell back and winced when the movement caused a jolt of pain to reverberate throughout my skull. "What the fuck?"

"Shhhh...take it easy there."

My head fell into someone's lap, where it was cradled perfectly in between their thighs. I recognized the voice as Steven's and, as my vision eventually got better, I could see tendrils of his hair, inches above me, dangling in the air and protecting my face from the rays of the sun. I was suddenly very grateful for his existence.

"Stevie..." I sighed softly and closed my eyes, feeling much more relaxed now that I knew that I was safe. "What happened?"

"You hit your head pretty badly when you fainted. But you're safe now. Just a little bump, that's all. It probably helped that Catherine 'kissed it to make it feel better'. She said that that's what you do to fix her boo-boo's."

A smile escaped my lips when I heard that. "Magic kisses. Surely, they saved my life."

Steven chuckled at the faint hint of sarcasm in my voice. "To have such power...she must be the chosen one!"

That had me giggling lightly to myself, but I stopped when the giggling caused another pulsing headache. I pressed my fingers to my temples and began massaging rhythmically.

"Relax. Let me do it," Steven offered.

"Steven, I'm fine."

"That's what you were saying before you fainted in my closet," he pointed out. "Just let me help you, Aurora."

I wanted to argue with him, tell him that I was perfectly alright and could do it myself, but I felt too exhausted to fight with him at the moment. Heaving an annoyed sigh, I dropped my hands back to my sides, giving Steven full access to my pounding head.

Within moments, warm fingers poked at my temples, digging in lightly before they began rubbing in tiny, circular motions. The pain began to subside and my body began to melt into Steven, my muscles relaxing once more.

"To answer your first question, you are outside with me. I thought it would be nice to get you some fresh air. We're laying on the grass in my backyard. Catherine, Liz, Axl, and Duff are in the pool, and Jordyn is in the hot tub with Slash and Izzy."

"Please tell me Jordyn has clothes on," I begged, my face contorting with worry.

"Everyone is in their underwear. Nobody brought bathing suits," Steven said softly. "Since Catherine is here, we tried to be a little modest."

Although I still wasn't all too thrilled that everybody was swimming in their under garments, I supposed it was better than nothing. Literally. I sighed again and relaxed into Steven once more.

"Aurora?" His voice was soft.

"Hm?"

"What made you faint earlier?"

I shrugged gently, not really wanting to give him a real answer. I hoped that a simple shrug would suffice. Of course, Steven pressed me for more information.

"C'mon. I know you don't think you can trust me, but you can. The day may have had a few rough patches, but Kitty Cat is safe. You're safe. I even got the guys to tickle torture Liz for you, since you couldn't do it yourself."

He waited for me to smile before he continued.

"Seriously, Rory. I know you think I'm this big, bad rockstar who hangs out at strip clubs, but that's just not it."

"Then what is it?" I demanded before he could continue. "What am I missing? That's what rockstars do, right? Go to strip clubs, party hard, screw girls...am I missing something? Or does that explain why you're the only one in the band without a girlfriend?"

The silence between us grew and the only sounds could be heard coming from the pool off in the distance. I could pick out Catherine's squeals as well as the splashing of water. Other voices mixed together in the air around us, mostly male.

In this silence, I realized just how bitchy I'd sounded, and I found myself questioning my motives. Why was I so determined to push Steven away? What had he ever done to me?

I thought back to what Liz had said to me before I'd even decided to accept Steven's babysitting offer, about making Steven pay for DLR's actions. Maybe I was stuck in the past. Maybe what DLR had done had ruined my views on men and rock n'roll entirely.

"You're right. I'm a rockstar. I go to parties, I drink, I smoke, I go to strip clubs, I've had a lot of sex with a lot of different women. But that's not why I don't have a girlfriend. Trust me, I could snap my fingers and have girls falling all over me."

The thought of other women hanging all over Steven caused a strange feeling to stir up inside of me. It felt like jealousy, but I told myself that I was just queasy from my migraine. "Yeah? So why don't you?"

There was a pause in which Steven stopped rubbing my temple and instead, began trailing his fingers along my cheek. They roamed down the length of my neck before veering off and playing with strands of my hair. It was a loving and warm gesture. A strange reaction to my vile words.

"Because, I've finally found one girl who won't come when I snap my fingers....and I want to keep her."

I knew that he was referring to me, but I decided to play dumb anyway. "Who's that?"

"You, of course. I want you. I've wanted you since you brushed me off at the club. I've wanted you since I found out you had a daughter. I've wanted you since I saw that you could kick my friends' asses, and yet, you continue to reject me. Why do you keep pushing me away?" His fingers combed through my hair, tugging lightly.

It was a question I was beginning to ask myself. To be completely honest, there was no real reason as to why I was trying to avoid Steven. He didn't seem like he would be the type to rape me, like DLR had all of those years ago. Then again, he also didn't seem like the father figure that DLR was appearing to be right now. Sure, Steven proved to be an excellent babysitter and playmate, but that wasn't what Catherine needed in life. She needed a daddy, and not only was DLR more capable, but he was also related to her by blood. I needed to focus on getting along with him, not some drummer I'd never even heard of.

"I'm not trying to, Steve," I admitted, turning over onto my side to make it harder for Steven's roaming hands to caress my cheek. "I just have a lot going on right now. I don't have time for a boyfriend."

"Then I'll wait until you have the time. I feel like I've been waiting all of my life for you, anyway. I don't mind waiting a little longer. For you, I'll wait dear."

God, he was so sweet. He was making this really hard for me. The thing was, I did have time for boyfriend. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't the guy I had in mind.

"Steven, look. It's not that I don't have time for a boyfriend, it's that I don't have time for you," I admitted.

In the silence that followed, my fingers found a stray piece of string hanging from his pants. I twirled it in my hands until he spoke again.

"So...who do you have time for?" He asked softly, his voice now a shadow of its former self. I'd never heard him speak like that before, not even when he told me about Marilyn's death. It made my heart sink.

"Catherine's father, David Lee Roth."