This I Love

Chapter Three; Swing Set

*author's note real quick; I know a lot of chicks now dig Zeppelin but as someone who wasn't there in the 80s, I hear all sorts of stories from my dad about how girls hated the band in the 80s hence that whole part in the convo ;P*

 I was used to being hunted down and found so I didn't really go to a discreet spot. In fact, I wasn't even really planning on hiding from the band like I used to do Nikki. No, I just wanted to leave the house and think about what I should do or if I should do anything at all. After all, Red wasn't exactly wrong when he said I didn't belong there. I didn't. For one thing, I didn't even know these guys so there wasn't really a reason for me to stay with them. Or maybe there was. Motley Crue didn't know Guns N' Roses so it was probably safer here than staying with one of the guys from Ratt. I perked up when I heard footsteps on gravel, too heavy to be a kid rushing over to play on his favourite swing set. To my surprise, the one and only Axl was the one shuffling over.

"Come to try throwing another fist?" I mused, kicking at the dust under the swing seat I was on. Axl sat on the swing next to me and shook his head.

"No, um, I wanted to apologize", he mumbled.

"That's impressive."

"Shut up. I'm sorry."

We fell quiet, me swaying and kicking at the dirt and rocks as I listened to Axl light and inhale a cigarette. This was the closest we'd been together since I got to the Hell House and up close, he really wasn't that bad looking. A redhead with perfectly shaped lips under a very long, very straight nose that was looked over by two seemingly omniscient blue eyes. A few freckles splashed his face that I wouldn't have noticed if I was even a step farther away but they gave him a childlike, friendly look that he otherwise wouldn't have. He probably knew how attractive he was and thought he could use it as a get-out-of-jail-free card. "Why'd ya do it, Freckles?" I questioned.

Axl turned pink and glared. "My name's not Freckles."

"Why. Did you. Do it?"

Axl groaned and leaned back in his swing, puffing clouds into the air over us. The sun was starting to set, making his strawberry hair a vibrant orange in the remaining light. "I don't know", he admitted, sounding genuine. "It just...it sounds sick but it felt right."

"You know I could kick your ass, right?" I scoffed.

"You know I wouldn't hit a girl for real, right?" he quipped. "It ain't right to beat on women."

"And yet you swung at one?" I asked. "Doesn't that-"

"I know. It doesn't make sense", Axl said irritably. "It's just...keep your mouth shut about this but I just go through like...phases. Some days, I don't want to get out of bed. Don't wanna look at people. Other days, I wanna do everything. Sing, see the world, sit on my fucking imaginary throne." He trailed off and I started laughing, making him chuckle too. "But like, I feel like I can do anything, so I jump on any chance to prove it, like fucking swinging at people when I shouldn't. And I black out and once it's all over I realize like 'oh crap, that's not cool.' It's real annoying the way I just swing back and forth on an outta time pendulum." He rubbed his forehead before glancing at me. "Does that make any sense?"