Otherside

Chapter 5

It had been two months since Elle had been whisked away into the insanity that was tour life. So far, it was all a whirlwind of drugs, booze, girls, and of course music. Elle abstained from some of the harder drugs, but she eagerly partook in drinking and smoking pot when the opportunity presented itself. The boys would teach her and Cassie how to play their instruments when they had some free time, and Elle and Anthony had begun to make love regularly. Cassie and Flea would run around, fornicating like bunnies, Chad would drink and crack jokes, Dave would smoke and sleep around and try to hit on Elle, and every night the boys would come up with a new game to play with the roadies.

After a show in Phoenix, everyone headed back to the hotel room and got absolutely loaded. The room was filled with a hazy cloud of pot smoke, some concert-goers that the boys had invited were shooting up in the middle of the floor, and bottles of liquor and beer and wine were haphazardly scattered around the room. After Elle had gotten decently high, she decided to approach two of the guys shooting up, and they quickly made room for her to sit with them and began to show her the exact process of shooting what she learned to be heroin. She had never dared to try heroin before, but the thrill of the night and the atmosphere in the room made her far more adventurous. One of the men gently grabbed her arm and brought the syringe toward her. The next thing Elle knew, her arm had been snatched away and she was being pulled roughly up to her feet. She whipped her head around, confused and angry and ready to give this fucker a piece of her mind for ruining a new experience for her, when her eyes met Anthony's. His expression was stone cold, but his eyes betrayed him, and Elle removed herself from his grip, took his hand, and lead him to one of the rooms.

He turned once they entered and locked the door as Elle sat on the bed. He faced her, his mouth forming a hard line, and he shook his head.

"What? You shoot up all the time, why can't I try it?" Elle demanded, obviously frustrated. Her arms crossed and she lifted a brow, awaiting his answer.

"Elle, you don't understand." Anthony mumbled.

"What? What don't I understand?" Her anger was growing.

"Elle, I don't want to be like this! I don't want to have to shoot up all the time just to stay sane. And I would do anything to keep from seeing you or anyone else that I love go through this, because it sucks. It really fucking sucks."

"Ant, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that that was-"

"It's fine. Just please, don't do anything stupid. Because I promise you, you'll regret it."

Elle nodded sharply, "Let me help. If it's really as bad as you say it is, you don't need to be doing it either. Let me help you stop this. I want to see you healthy and happy, no matter what."

Anthony's eyes welled up with tears and he gave a tiny nod. Elle stood and help out her arms to him, and he came to her and buried his face in her neck. She rubbed his back soothingly, and he lifted his face up to kiss her, taking a step so that the backs of Elle's knees hit the edge of the bed. The kiss deepened and before she knew it, Elle was laying on her back in her underwear with a half naked Anthony hovering over her. One hand was propping himself up next to her head while the other made its way down to her breast, and Elle smiled into the kiss, pulling him closer to her.

_______________________________________

She woke tangled in Anthony's arms, her head resting on his chest.

"Someone finally decided to wake up." He muttered, kissing her forehead, "I have a surprise for you."

Elle arched an eyebrow, but Anthony didn't explain any further, so she decided to trust him and got ready for the day. She dressed simply: a tank top and jeans, and she met the Cassie and the boys out in the main room. They were all ready to go to the studio to jam for a bit, and Elle was surprised to see that it was almost 2 in the afternoon. As they headed down to the bus, Dave (who looked a little worse for wear), slung an arm around her. He had a toothpick hanging out of his mouth and he smiled at her, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"You know I love it when you come to watch us play." Dave purred, and Elle couldn't hold in her laughter. He constantly dropped comments like this one to her, and sometimes they were a little more forward, but it was all part of the game that their friendship was. The bus ride was mostly silent; everyone was nursing a pretty intense hangover, but thankfully the studio wasn't very far away. Elle couldn't have prepared herself for what (or who) was inside.

All six of them shuffled into the main room, where a man was waiting with his back facing them. His wavy brown hair reached past his shoulders and he wore a red flannel shirt and long pants. Anthony stepped up behind Elle and put a hand on her lower back.

"There's someone I'd like for you to meet, Eleanor." The man turned around and his hazel eyes met Elle's gray ones, his full lips twitching up into a polite smile. His cheekbones were prominent and he was thin, with his hands stuffed into his pockets and an extremely relaxed posture. There was something familiar about him, but Elle couldn't exactly place it, so she shook it off and went to extend a hand to him.

His hands were large and his long fingers were callused, and as he took her hand and shook, his smile became more genuine and he glanced down, acting almost shy.

"Eleanor, this is my good friend, John."

_______________________________________

A/N:
Hey guys! I just wanted to thank you guys for reading and commenting. It's really good to hear that y'all like what I'm doing here 😊 you guys are great!