Carolina ~ A Slash Love Story

Lola

The guys were starting to really hit it big (thank you, 'Sweet Child O' Mine' and MTV), and as a result, things were changing like crazy; more money flowed in, but so did the pressure to write the next album. There were little fights with each of the guys, but they got over all of it after a while, and then they were back to work on doing something else. Lies was in the works, but it was only an EP- that wasn't going to be enough for very long, but it was a start.

It had been a while since Izzy and I had spoken; as the time went on (probably about a month or so), he was becoming more and more distant, and it wasn't just with me. He had moved into his own place, and Axl took over the apartment- Duff and Matt lived in their own houses, and the only time everyone got together (or mostly) was when there was practice or writing going on. As far as all of them were concerned, Izzy just wasn't communicating well. We were all aware that he had a drug problem, but as far as we could tell, it wasn't taking over his life like it had with Steven... he was just antisocial.

Slash and I were still living together, and things were pretty much perfect aside from Tracii's occasional angry two A.M. phone calls. It was weird; he was hellbent on 'not being forgotten,' but the rest of the guys in L.A. Guns understood that I wanted space. I didn't mind when Phil or Kelly came over to visit, as long as they didn't try to start anything (which they didn't). They all seemed to agree that Tracii was being an ass, and we knew that he would have to get over it eventually.

Tracii wasn't one to hold grudges, although he seemed to hate Axl's guts more than he hated mine or Slash's. Even if things would never be the same again, I at least wanted us to all get along and be friends in some way, even if the better times were behind us. Without him, I would never have met Slash, so for that alone, I was grateful, even if I didn't realize it when we first hung around each other.

I sat in the kitchen, staring at the blank spot on the kitchen wall, thinking about the time that Kelly and Traci were horsing around. The two of them had knocked down my favorite picture of me and the rest of the L.A. Guns guys sitting on a rotted out couch at the 'Gut Bucket.' The frame shattered and the frame cracked, and I stood there, not knowing how to react to what just happened.

Initially, my feeling was anger, but then it was sadness. It was stupid, as I could get new frame, but I didn't know of the picture was damaged, and for some reason, it meant a lot to me.

"I'm so sorry!" they both hurried out, trying to carefully scoop the picture out of the glass.

They apologized up and down, and I easily forgave them, but they still felt bad. Phil randomly gifted me a new frame one day, and I was so happy about it, but I never put it back up on my wall; I was too busy. The spot was still empty, and it would probably stay that way until I either got a different picture or if I randomly decided to rehang it.

"Hey, baby," Slash called, closing the apartment door behind himself and breaking me from my thoughts.

"I'm in the kitchen," I replied as I blinked the fuzz from my vision.

"What are you doing in here all by yourself?" he teased.

"Waiting for you to come home from the band jam session."

"Ah, well, I am back now," he confirmed, handing me a bouquet of pink and red roses.

"Slash, they're beautiful! Thank you!"

"Only the best for you, baby."

I watched him walk around the kitchen, searching for a vase as I smelled my beautiful new flowers. There was something about the way that he was moving that made me smile; he was happy about something, and it was nice to see.