Bandom One-shots book 3

Cryin' (Joe Perry x Axl Rose)

The hotel room was too quiet. Just the soft hum of the city below, muffled through rain-streaked windows. I sat on the edge of the bed, guitar in my lap, the first chords already lingering in the air as the words formed—uninvited—on my lips.

There was a time, when I was so brokenhearted...

Axl's face flickered in my mind. The way he used to look at me—bright, reckless, alive. We were unstoppable once. He'd curl up against my chest after a show, body buzzing with adrenaline and laughter. I could still feel the echo of those nights, the warmth of him, like he was stitched into my skin.

But that was before. Before the fame twisted him. Before the late nights and empty bottles, the fans who wanted more than just music.

Love wasn't much of a friend of mine.

The nights blurred. The tours got longer. His fame burned brighter—too bright—and he chased it with bottle after bottle, groupie after groupie. I told myself it didn't matter. I told myself I was enough.

Until I wasn't.

The tables have turned... yeah.

I saw the way his eyes dulled, how he slipped further away, the moments of tenderness replaced with slurred fights and slammed doors. The last time he kissed me—really kissed me—was months ago. Now it was just silence or venom.

I remembered the early days when the music was the only thing between us. When we sat up late, just the two of us, trading chords and secrets. He made me feel seen back then. Alive.

It was you, yeah you, who made me feel like I was crying.

I set the guitar down, the final chords lingering in the air, trembling with all the words I never said aloud. All the ways he had broken me while I kept trying to hold him together. But the truth was, I couldn't fix him. And he couldn't see how much I was breaking too.

The door creaked open. I half-expected it to be him. It never was anymore. Just shadows and the echo of what we used to be.

~Cryin'~