Released {Izzy Stradlin}

His Bad Side

 It's not too long before Slash opens the door, shirtless, and a cigarette hanging from his lips. Some blue jeans clung to his hips, and he wore some converse. My heart skipped, but not with attraction. I admired his skills on the guitar.

"Oh, hey," He greets us. "C'mon in." Slash turns and leads Jack further into the bus. I was the last to walk up the stairs and through the door, taking in the smell of smoke and cheap cologne. We walked past the driver, who greeted us and kindly shut the door behind me. All the guys' heads nearly touched the roof, but not mine. I was pretty short compared to them. The walls were colored tan, and the tile flooring was grey. It was nice overall, better than I had expected.

We walked through a small area in the middle of the bus. There were a few two-seater booths against the walls, with a small aisle in the middle with space enough for us to walk through. In one of the booths sat Axl and Steven playing a card game. They briefly greeted us before getting back to their game.

Past them was a tiny kitchen area with a medium-sized fridge, a small counter space, and a sink. On the opposite side of that was the bathroom.

On the very back of the bus was the lounge area. A mini-fridge sat on the floor next to a small end table. A black leather couch curled in a crescent shape in the corner of the room. A few storage shelves were in there as well.

Slash takes us up a spiral staircase between the lounge and the bathroom.

"Our bunks are here, in the back. There's three sets and four bunks in each set." Slash tells us and leaves shortly. The bunks each had a curtain for privacy. The sets had curtains between them as well. Our bunks were the front set, leaving the middle set empty for the driver and the one member of GNR. The guys went ahead and got the first four bunks in the front, leaving me to catch one in the middle set.

As they settled in next door to me, I decided to do the same. I put my duffle bag on the top bunk on the right side. I then slipped my two suitcases on the shelf next to it. There was a compartment above my bunk with enough room for both my book bag and my duffle bag.

"You're from the other band, Indigo Stained, right?" A voice from behind me asked. I turned around and there stood Izzy Stradlin, eyes roaming my figure as mine roamed his. His clean chest was exposed by his half-opened button-up. Tight jeans clung to his legs and a pair of white socks accompanied his feet. His cold eyes bored into my own as I stuttered out an answer.

"Um, y-yeah, I'm Lane." I state, holding out my hand to him and smiling awkwardly. He smirks, eyes flicking over my body once again. His hand meets mine, shaking it gently. It was cold compared to mine.

"Izzy," He states. I nodded and felt my face and neck heat up. We were pretty close to each other because of how narrow the walkway was. I couldn't help but inhale his cologne that wasn't at all overpowering, rather sweet.

"So, do you sing or?" Izzy questions me.

"I play guitar." A small grin spreads onto his lips as I let go of his hand.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah," I respond with more breath than sound. Just then, the curtain slides back.

"Hey, Elaine," Josh calls as he opens the curtain. He notices Izzy and his eyes grow hard. Josh steps forward and reaches into his back pocket.

"The bus won't take off for another hour, I'm headed out for a smoke." Josh tells me, holding out his open pack of camels."Want one?" I shake my head at his offer.

"I had one before we left home." I reminded him. I smoke but it's usually on occasion, or when I'm really stressed out. Smoking is one of Josh's bad habits, though. He manages to smoke one pack in just one day.