Patience (d.m)

0.2: Duff Now

Song for this chapter: Fashionably Late by Falling In Reverse

Duff's P.O.V

"Fuck man," Axl says, grabbing the nearest thing he can find, which, thankfully, is a pillow. He throws it against the wall, knocking one of the pictures onto the ground. "We need to get this right! Get your heads out of your asses and do it right!"

I roll my eyes, thanking whoever is above that I'm on this side of the booth. Sure, it's with Axl who's throwing a hissy fit, but at least I'm not getting yelled at.

"We're trying, man. Go do some blow and chill the fuck out," Slash says, rubbing his face.

Izzy doesn't say a word. He just shakes his head. I know he's at the end of his line with Axl. We all are.

"Motherfucker-."

Before Axl can scream at Slash some more, Steven bursts into the room. He was supposed to go get food, which is in his arms, thankfully. I was scared that he'd get sidetracked and not get food. I'm starving.

"DUFF, I SAW HENLEY!" He screams at me.

My heart stops at the mention of her name. "W-What?"

"I saw her! She was leaving one of the other booths! I need to go find her!" Steven yells, placing the food down onto the coffee table.

Before Steven can go find my long lost love, Axl stops him in his tracks. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I gotta go find my best friend!" Steven yells, looking like he'll murder anyone who gets in his way.

"Oh, no you're not. We're not even close to being done with Appetite. I'm afraid you'll have to go find her later," Axl says, sounding like a father scolding his son.

"No! You don't understand! It's been four years since I last saw her!"

"Stevie, just sit down," I say, feeling a headache starting to form.

"You don't get to say anything. You're the reason she left in the first place!" Steven snarls, looking as angry as he did that day we found out she left Seattle.

"Oo," Slash says. I can't see his face since his hair is in the way, but I can imagine he has a shit eating grin. "I smell a scandal."

I roll my eyes. "It wasn't a scandal."

"Then what happened?" Axl asks, his interest peaked.

"I thought you wanted to get this goddamn album done!" I exclaim, feeling my anger rising. Why the fuck did Steven have to say anything?

"I'd much rather hear your scandal," Axl smirks.

I huff. "It wasn't a scandal!"

Izzy and Slash exit the booth, standing by Axl. Izzy smirks, finally taking off his sunglasses. For the life of me, I don't know why he wears them all the time. This must really interest him considering he finally took them off. "C'mon," Izzy says. "Fill us in, McKagan."

"Yeah, McKagan. Tell us all about how you drove my best friend away," Steven growls, crossing his arms.

"Well," I say, gulping. "About four years ago. . ."

I then launch into what happened all those years ago. Sure, it was only four years, but that's a long time. A lot happened since she left.

Steven and I decided to move to LA. I wanted to move to try and find a band. He wanted to move to find Henley. We never found her, but I saw her in some magazines with Tommy and the rest of Mötley. Some articles said she was engaged to Tommy. Others said she was having a love affair with Vince and cheating on Nikki. I knew none of those were true. I knew Henley. She'd never do anything like that. Especially with Mötley.

Anyways, one way or another, Steven and I ended up in L.A Guns, which Tracii Guns had formed. After L.A Guns failed, Guns N' Roses was formed by Tracii and Axl. Tracii got kicked out somewhere along the line, and now it's just me, Steven, Axl, Izzy, and Slash. A power group if you ask me. We work well together. Most of the time. We pretty much have to get along, considering the five of us live in a small ass apartment together. Talk about a nightmare. It makes me miss Steven and I's old apartment in Seattle. I miss the memories that are there. Including Henley.

"Wow," Axl says, shaking his head. "She sounds like a great girl. Why'd you cheat on her?"

I shrug. "I've thought about it over and over for the past four years and I still have no fucking clue why I'd do something so stupid. I miss her like hell and regret ever hurting her."

The room is quiet. They're not used to me expressing my feelings. Usually I don't say a word and down another bottle of vodka. I sure as hell wish I had a bottle of vodka right now.

Slash then claps me on the shoulder, laughing. "C'mon man. You sound like a chick." He starts towards the door. "Let's say we're finished for today, and go get a drink down at the Whiskey."

They all laugh, agreeing with our poofy haired friend. Steven, however, doesn't let me leave just yet. He stands in my way as I try to exit.

"What, Stevie?" I ask, feeling the guilt eating at me.

He shakes his head. "I'm glad you finally fessed up to what you did."

"I knew what I did. I just didn't want to say it out loud," I say, looking down at my shoes.

Steven sighs. "Look. If you see her, you're going to set things right. You're going to apologize to her, and you're going to get her number so that I can get in touch with her again. If I see her first I'll make sure she'll find you so that you can apologize."

"Since when are you so bossy?" I ask, a smirk on my face.

Stevie scoffs. "Since you fucked up."

"Fine," I sigh, looking back up at Steven. "I'll make things right."

"Thank you," Stevie says. "Now, Come on."

I follow Steven out of the building. I soon see Axl's bright red hair farther down the sidewalk. For once I'm glad they walk so slow. We pass a kiosk that sells magazines. I glance over them, seeing the usual gossip articles. However, one in particular catches my eye. I see Henley with a guy standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist. His face is nuzzled into her neck. She's wearing a blood red dress, much like the one she wore on our date all those years ago. And sitting on her chest is the key necklace I gave her the night I asked her to be mine. It's exactly like the polaroid of me and her.

The headline reads, "Henley Baxter and Rick Savage finally make their relationship official. Henley also confirms that her band, Fallen Angels, are working on a new album.

I feel my blood boil as I recognize the guy as Rick Savage, the bassist of Def Leppard. That stupid British band. How could she be dating him? That guy looks like an absolute dick.

That key necklace, however, gives me hope. Maybe she still loves me as much as I love her. I'll get her back. I swear to everything, I'll get her back. I will not fuck up this time. All I have to do is find her.

Wait a minute. . . .

She's in a band?!