𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐒 / / 𝐍𝐈𝐊𝐊𝐈 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐗

INTRODUTION

"Luna, get the fuck up."

A barely inaudible groan was heard from the body on the bed, blonde hair splayed out beneath a pillow which buried a head. The girl in question refused to move, still dressed in last nights clothes and trying to sleep off a hangover. Staying out till the early morning on the Sunset Strip does that to a person.

"Luna, I'm serious you need to get the hell up." Came the voice again, and suddenly she was hit with a blast of cold air as the duvet was dragged off of her.

"What the fuck, Tommy, get the fuck outta here." She mumbled, turning her face slightly so the mattress wouldn't muffle her reply.

Tommy Lee stared at his cousin, and also best friend, as she point blank refused to even open her eyes, never mind get out of bed. Although family, the two looked nothing alike.

Luna was his Aunt Eileen's daughter, on his fathers side of the family. Now, Eileen was the black sheep of the family. The woman had been into drugs like crazy, mainly weed and psychedelics, and so was turfed out of the family at a young age. A born again hippy, is what the folks in the neighbourhood would call her, who bummed off of her various boyfriends. She fell pregnant at the age of 22 (father to this day unknown) and gave birth 9 months later to a surprisingly healthy baby girl - and of course the name had to be as abstract and bizarre as a DMT trip, so she went with Luna.

Her childhood wasn't a happy one, most of the time it was her job to look after her mother, who had found a strong appreciation for Jim Bean as she grew older, or her boyfriends who would lock Luna away in her bedroom whilst they did hard drugs, often slipping muscle relaxers into the young girls drink to make her go to sleep. Eventually, Eileen was hit by a truck after she fell drunkenly into the road, and Luna at the age of 13 was placed into the care of a family she had never met before - her Uncle David's. Despite the fact that her and Tommy grew close, bonding over similar music taste and styles, she only lasted 3 years with them before she split. The reason? She couldn't adapt to the normal suburban lifestyle of playing happy families. Luna had never known the kind of care and affection that her family showed, and although it was appreciated she began to act out. Theft, fighting, drinking, smoking, the teenager had already picked up some nasty habits.

Thankfully, her uncle showed a slight understanding and agreed to let her move out, granting Luna her own freedom and responsibility, as long as she kept in regular contact with them. She kept her promise, but she also kept her secrets too. Uncle David didn't know the half of what she got up too. She moved into a shitty little uptown apartment, a 2 minute walk away from the Sunset Strip and worked in the most popular diner there and had done for 4 years.

That was where the issue was. Working in that diner, Luna got to meet some special people, and her favourite customers swung between her regulars and old folk who would always tip big and then the bands who played at the Whisky a Go Go. A pretty girl like Luna with a nice body and a good ass was something that no wannabe rockstar wanted to turn down, and most nights she would end up partying with them to the break of dawn. The girl loved to party, especially when drink and drugs came for free.

Queue Tommy, her adorable and energetic cousin that just wanted the best for her. On the regular he would stop by to make sure she was alright, still living and breathing, sometimes he would sleep over and just chill the hell out. He would talk about his new love interest whilst twirling his drum stick and she would nod her head every so often and pretend to care. Damn fuckin' hopeless romantic.

It was Saturday morning, and he had promised his Pa' that he'd drop in on Luna on his way to the record store to pick up the tickets for the gig tonight. When he had arrived, he had found her door unlocked and every light in the place left on. Fighting through the mess of empty bottles and cigarette cartons, as well as the disarray of dark clothes, he finally found his cousin face down in bed.

"You have work in an hour, you need to sort yourself out." He commented, pulling on a cord to let the sunshine seep into the room. Once more Luna made an annoyed sound.

"You're a fucking asshole, you know that right?" She spat pulling herself up and finally turning to face him. Tommy suppressed a laugh looking at the state she was in. Bed hair, puffy eyes, mascara, eyeliner and red lipstick smeared all over her face.

"Just looking out for you cuz', seriously though you need a shower. You look like shit."

"I feel like shit too. Make me a coffee or something would ya?" She asked with squinting eyes as she began to pull herself from the bed, and the tall boy nodded and strided off to the kitchen.

"So, I'm gonna bring my girl to your place tonight. Can you give me some discount?" He called whilst searching for a clean mug, eventually giving up and settling for washing one up himself. Say what you want about girls being neat and tidy, Luna just wasn't one of them. She mostly ate at the diner, and often went straight out from there. Her cheap shitty flat was not well looked after, and it showed.

"You've got a new girl already?" He heard her scoff from the bathroom.

"Yeah, but I really really like her. I think you will too, but you'll get to meet her tonight after the gig so you can decide for yourself." He sounded pretty happy with his explanation, though he couldn't see Luna's sneer.

"Whatever you say, lover boy. Who are you going to see anyway?" She finally reappeared, face bare and clean of any dark or grungy makeup.

"This band called London." He said handing her the mug. "They've been selling out gigs, and I saw them a few week back. I think they're gonna be huge."

"Anything can happen in LA, Tom." She smirked, bringing the coffee to her lips blowing lightly on the beverage to get it to cool down. "But hey, sure, bring her over. I'll sort you out."

"Thanks Luna," he grinned and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Imma' get going so I can grab these tickets and you need to get sorted for work."

"Go get them, stud." She patted his leather jacket and ushered him out the door. "I'll see ya' later, yeah?"

"Sure thing, bye cuz'!" He yelled, long legs already taking him half way down the stair well. Shutting the door behind her, she placed the cup of coffee to one side and dragged herself to the bathroom with a sigh.

"Same shit, different day."