Grunge One Shots

Layne Staley

   "(Y/N)! (Y/N), wake up!" a childish voice exclaimed. I grumbled and curled up into a fetal position. I was not ready to wake up. "(Y/N), you promised me that you would come with me to the studio," the voice groaned. I slowly rolled over and was met with a pair of eager blue eyes. He had a stupid grin on his face that just caused me to burst out laughing.

"Okay, okay. I'm up Staley. What do you want from me?" I mumbled with a small smile.

"You told me last week that you'd come to the studio with me today! I came to wake you up because I knew that you'd fall asleep. Lazybones," Layne pouted. I checked the clock beside me and it was only eight o'clock.

"Just five more minutes," I responded in a drawn-out groan. Layne walked to the foot of my bed and, without saying anything, ripped the blanket off of me and started shaking me.

"You douchebag," I slurred while sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm so horrible for wanting my friend to live up to her promise. Sue me," Layne retorted. I laughed a little bit. Even though I was pissed that he woke me up, I couldn't stay mad for long. I pushed Layne out of my room so that I could get dressed but before I could, I noticed he had a huge tear in his jeans.

"Layne, your ass is showing," I said while stifling a laugh.

"Oh, that. Yeah, how do you think I got in? I had to climb through the window," Layne responded matter-of-factly. Meanwhile, I was bent over, laughing my ass off. I shoved him out the door and got dressed quickly.

 I walked into the living room after fixing myself up. I threw Layne a jacket to cover the tear in his pants and he thanked me before we walked out the door.

We arrived at the studio and I was immediately greeted by the sight of Sean and Jerry playing 'Sympathy for the Devil.' I mentally prepared myself because I knew that Layne would do something stupid. I was right. He ran up and started dancing like Mick Jagger. Meanwhile, I was in the corner laughing my ass off.

After Layne was done pretending to be Mick Jagger, he asked Jerry what the plans were for today. Jerry told him that they were going to work on 'Man in the Box.' As soon as he said this, I was immediately excited because I hadn't heard the song before. Layne smiled and went to the mic.

Layne set up his headphones and gave the guys a thumbs up. Mike gave him the thumbs up and with that, Layne began singing.

I'm the man in the box

Buried in my pit

Won't you come and save me?

Save me

He gave the guys a smile and took a deep breath.

Feed my eyes

Jesus Christ

He who tries

Feed my eyes

Shut

I'm the dog who gets beat

Shove my nose in spit

Won't you come and save me?

Save me

Feed my eyes

Jesus Christ

He who tries

Feed my eyes

Shut

Feed my eyes

Jesus Christ

He who tries

Feed my eyes

Shut

I was in awe. His high notes during the chorus gave me goosebumps. I never knew he could sing like that! Everyone began clapping and whistling and as soon as Layne came out of the studio, we all gave him a hug. Layne stumbled a bit but quickly stood upright. All that was left was for Jerry to record backing vocals and then the song would be finished!

Jerry finished the backing vocals in two tries. The band and I walked out of the studio and sat on the curb eating Spaghetti-O's. Layne told us stories about how he tried flirting with a stewardess and got soup on his nose. Everyone was smiling and laughing. Everyone was happy. That was the last time I saw everyone smiling, laughing, and sober.