Book 4: The Way We've Always Done Before (Axl Rose FanFic)

Ch. 1: Thinking of You

Disclaimer: I do not own GNR the band, the people, or the music. Darn.

The sunset was a swirl of red and orange off in the distance. The colors only added onto the weight that lay heavy on my heart. I bit my lip and turned away from the sky, gazing down at the green grass instead. So calm. The complete opposite of him, and the exact same as me.

I felt as though the flaming ball of light in the sky was my constant reminder of that shock of red hair that had fed into my school girl fantasies for years. It had sat atop of the head of the boy I had grown up with, played with, and of course, fallen in love with.

Those flames of hair had been busy flickering through my dreams, casting a dim glow over us, and shrouding all of his lies in darkness so that maybe I would never see what lay behind those eyes of his.

While I was busy falling for him, being the soft carpet of grass for him to lie on whenever he needed an escape, he was busy smoldering over me. His fury, his passion, his lust, his ambitions...they chewed me up and spit me out. He was the sun and I was his ball of spitfire.

I pulled my knees to my chest and patted the grass down with my feet. My Border Collie, Sam, waddled up beside me and licked my hand before lying down in the grass.

"Hey, boy," I cooed, reaching out and scratching him behind the ears. His tail began to thump against the ground, kicking up leaves and blades of grass as it went.

I giggled and stood up.

"Come on, boy. Let's go get some dinner."

At the mere mention of the word "dinner", he shot up and began sprinting towards the house. I chuckled and lightly began skipping after him, hoping that maybe this time thoughts of William would remain right in that spot in the field where I'd left them.

Of course, as always, they followed.

It had been years since I'd seen him last. In real life anyway. He was on the television all of the time, always with some girl draped all over him or parading himself around on stage like some proud and angry rooster out to prove something to the world.

Normally, when he would appear on TV, I'd change the channel and tell myself that I'd been imagining things. Other days, I'd leave MTV on, hoping that his face would grace my living room with its presence, torturing myself with the features I had grown to know better than my own.

Today was one of the days where I was attempting to forget about him. And like all of the days before it, I failed.

"Hazel, come help set the table," my mom's voice was soft and sweet. I swear, that woman had never raised her voice in her whole entire life. Then again, I doubt either of my parents had.

I remember back in the good old days when Will would come over to my house to play, he would get so strange and quiet around my parents. When I had finally asked him about his behavior, he told me that my parents were weird. He said his parents yelled and swore and hit him a lot. He thought maybe something was wrong with my family. However, as the years passed and we grew into our awkward teenaged years, Will visited more and more often. He began warming up to my parents and actually looked up to my dad a lot. I think somewhere along the line, he realized that his family was the abnormal one, and he wanted some of the comfort of my normalcy for himself.

"Were you out in the field again?" My dad asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing at me from over his reading glasses.

I nodded and smiled as I set a plate down in front of him. "Sure was, pop. It's getting to be real warm outside. I was enjoying the fresh air."

He cracked a smile at me, his age-old laugh lines crinkling his face up until it looked worn out like leather. "That's my girl."

I giggled and kissed the top of his head, right in the middle of his bald spot.

"Always am. Always will be," I murmured to him as I'd done a million times before.

"Hurry up with those plates, dear. I don't want supper getting cold," my mom urged me on as she chopped away at some carrots.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied sheepishly. My dad gave me a wink and I smirked back at him. I returned to setting plates down until the table was fully prepared.

After we had all sat down and said grace, my father cleared his throat as he began to slice at his pork chops with a knife.

"So I flipped on the news today, and you'll never guess what I saw!"

I smiled. My dad was always watching the weather channel and C-SPAN and whatnot. I couldn't wait to hear what news he had for us today.

"Some man named, Axl....Rose, was it?"

I began to choke and hack on my mouthful of pork. My mom cried out in shock and rushed out of her seat to start pounding on my back. When the offending hunk of meat had finally slithered down my throat enough to the point where I could breathe again, I looked up at my dad through teary eyes.

"Who?"

"Axl Rose, I think they said his name was? Anyway, he apparently jumped into the crowd to confiscate a camera from someone during his concert. Then he left! Right in the middle of it! The nerve of some people..."

I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Daddy, I-"

There was a loud knock on the door and Sam began barking like crazy.

Saved by the bell.

"I'll get it," I said, hurrying to stand up.

"But, it's dinnertime!" My mom called after me.

"Oh, leave her alone, Janice," I heard my dad say as I stumbled for the door.

As I inched forward, step by step, there was another knock on the door.

"I'm coming!" I yelled, letting my irritation show. Why did all of this have to be happening right now? I just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep until...God, I don't know. Until Will stopped popping up all over the media.

I finally reached the door and swung it open.

I was looking at a pair of feet in black, leather boots that looked dusty from travel. My eyes crawled up the long legs of a pair of tattered, denim jeans until they reached a pale, bare chest hiding under a black, leather vest. When I locked eyes with the man, my heart leapt into my throat and I began to choke on it.

"Hey, Hazel," he said. His voice was as tranquil as ever. He didn't seem at all excited to see me after all of these years apart.

My heart, it was gagging me. I couldn't speak, I couldn't breathe, and I was too frightened to move. My brain was buzzing with a million different thoughts, half of them having to do with the man in front of me, the other half trying to decide how I should react.

I dropped my hand from the doorknob to my side and let out a breath.

"Jeff."