Living Like A Runaway

Manic Depression

Honestly, the next day went on like the last, and then there were eleven days off for Guns N' Roses before they really kicked off the Appetite tour. Truth be told, there wasn't too much productivity among the Conspirators, not as much as there was before. There were no performance dates to look forward too, so it was kind of like a mental break from forcing songs to just get shoved out onto a platter. It was a lot of Axl and I sucking face, Sonic and Nikki getting closer, Trixie starting to talk to that Brian Warner guy she met at the lake, and Vicky trying to figure out how to get a girlfriend.

As for the other side with Steel Panther, Satchel was actually doing exceptionally well at helping me out with Axl. Unlike me, though, dad forced himself to always look for songwriting concepts, especially since they were in a glam metal comedy band, which really didn't make him too concerned with whatever I was doing. Stix was a little more mindful of me, but really, for now, all was going well. 

Now, I was at the airport, dropping Axl off to hit the first date of his tour. I had been dreading it for the eleven days we'd spent together, but Axl seemed to be completely chilled out about it. Actually, Axl never really worried about anything. He could be really happy, really pissed off, and sometimes just down in the dumps, but I'd never known Axl to be worried whatsoever. 

"You have the number Izzy gave you for your china white?" Axl asked quietly, looking at me in the driver's seat of dad's Camaro. He'd said I could borrow it whenever I wanted for now, so long as I didn't break it. I nodded at my boyfriend, and then tipped my head over to rest on his shoulder. He sighed, kissing the top of my head. "I'll call your place, alright? If someone else answers, well, I'll just hang up and call again later. It's from a hotel phone, it's not like they're gonna call the cops."

Laughing a bit, I looked up at him and pecked his lips. "I'm gonna miss you so much..." It was going to be a long few weeks without Axl, but it'd have to do. In this lifetime, the band had to come first if a choice had to be made.

Taking my hand, Axl gave me a reassuring grin. "Well, you've got my ring, and Appetite on record. I promise, babe, you're gonna be just fine, okay? Work on that kickass album of yours." I nodded, and then leaned in for more kissing. We made out for a bit, and for just a second, I forgot he had to leave. When we came up for air, though, he sighed. "It's time, sweetheart." 

Sadly, he got out of the car, and I sighed. "Hey Stella?" Axl asked, holding his suitcase. 

"Yeah Axl?"

A sincere smile crossed his face, and Axl's eyes locked with mine.

"I love you."

And with that, he walked away, not even giving me a chance to answer. 

My stomach was doing back flips the entire way back to my house. Axl Rose just told me that he loved me. Me! Both of us, quite noticeably, had made it a point not to say those three key words. In a Rocker's world, that was a serious thing, and couldn't just be thrown around unless it was in a song. Rockers weren't known to love, to have loves, or to be committed to their loves, so the phrase wasn't exactly used often unless, again, in a song or in a platonic sense.

Once I was home, I knew enough to keep my cool. A good part of me wanted to scream in joy, but I really didn't know how to make an excuse for that, so hiding it completely was a better option. Now, for the Conspirators, though, it was back to work. Today, we'd be trying to sketch out an idea for our first album cover before we met up with Doc and Doug later on to actually have it done out professionally. In typical fashion, though, we had procrastinated, which gave us an hour to come up with the idea and get to the office at Elektra. 

"Okay, how about we have the background be a vinyl record kind of thing? Then we'll put the imagery in the middle real big. We can work out where we put the name and stuff at the end," Vicky suggested, shrugging. I, being the designated note-taker this time, scribbled down the idea of the record background.