Living Like A Runaway

Save Our Souls

"Stella? Stella Starr, wake the fuck up!" a voice groaned, causing me to sit up in a panic. "We fell asleep here!" He told me, just as panicked as I now was. "The guys are gonna kill me, and I don't even know what Sonic's gonna do!"

Standing up, I brushed off my clothes and sighed. "We tell Sonic I crashed at your place, away from you. She's gonna flip her shit, and fuck, so will my fucking dad, and Stix! For two people that didn't even sleep together, we're really freaking out, though, I gotta say." He nodded in agreement, me grabbing my journal, and the two of us high-tailed it to the Mötley house.

As soon as we burst in the door, Mick looked like he was about to cry in relief. "You fucking asshole, where the fuck were you? Oh, hey Stella, how's it going?" I laughed a bit and shrugged, whereas Nikki was actually flipping out. Part of it was him needing a fix, so I didn't comment on it, but you could tell it was bothering him. "Wait, and why'd you two run down here so quickly? Not that we don't mind havin' you over, Stel, but don't people know where you are?"

Shrugging, I gave off a nervous laugh, took one deep breath, and explained the situation in one swoop. "So Nikki came over to pick up Sonic, who wasn't there, so the two of us hung out, fell asleep trying to find our way through the woods, woke up, and drove down here. Stix knows I was with Nikki, so I'm sure he'll be gunning to kick my ass along with my dad, and then Sonic, who's actually pretty defensive and shit, might lose her goddamned mind if she finds out I was with Nikki all night too, so we came down here so fast to tell you to say that I actually crashed here on your couch instead as far as anyone should ever know."

Mick laughed a little and shrugged. "I'm sure it'll work out, Stel. You might as well stay for breakfast, then, Vince is supposed to go grab a shit ton of stuff from the store; knowing him, it won't actually be breakfast food, but hell, we'll survive." I shrugged, nodding, and cracked my knuckles, thanking the guitarist.

"Hey Stella," Nikki called after a few minutes upstairs, "C'mere!" So, I made my way up the stairs and followed Nikki into his room, where he opened a drawer and pulled out a little white bag; cocaine. "Axl told me you might need a fix, he wasn't sure if you hit up Stradlin's dude for some. Was he right?" I sighed, nodding in relief, and he held out the bag to me. When I took it though, Nikki's brow furrowed, and he gave me a weird look. "Is that blood on your wrist?"

Immediately, my heart dropped, and I snatched my hand back, refusing to look him in the eye. "Stella, what happened?" He asked, sighing. Naturally, I stepped back, and the bassist crossed his arms, looking at me like a parent would a little kid. "I'm not gonna hurt you, but clearly something happened if you're not even gonna show me." He probably realized that wasn't going to work, so finally, he said, "Stella, I just want to help you, I promise..." He gave me something of a frown, which made me sigh back. Nikki rarely went out of his way- he was notorious for that, too- so I buckled down if for no other reason than because I had no other choice.

When I took off the bracelets, Nikki sighed, glancing up at me. "Anyone else know about this?"

"Axl. No one else."

"Was this a one-time thing?"

"I don't know..."

He told me to stay put, and come back a few minutes later, and came back with a few bandages and a wet towel to wipe the cuts off with. I wiped them off, and he undid the bandages, then he placed them on, wiping off my bracelets for me to put on over them. "If you feel like doing that, and you can't get to Axl for whatever reason, you can always come here... I really don't know what to say..."

I whispered quietly, "Thanks..." honestly unsure of what to say myself. I didn't know Nikki could be sensitive at all, nor did I even think I'd befriend him, let alone have someone in general find out about the cuts. It was a sweet gesture. When we went back downstairs, though, there was yet another guest; Sonic.