My Piece of the Action

a Store Called Retail Slut

"Oh and Yvonne dumped me again, kicked me out." Slash's voice rang over the phone. They had all been released from the hospital within a few hours and Axl had spent the night there. It had been a week since the accident, and Duff's car had been totalled.

"Who's Yvonne?" Raven asked,

"My girlfriend- well ex." Slash said, as if it was obvious. Raven twirled the cord on the phone between her fingers, laying on her back on her bed.

"Oh." She replied, he hadn't mentioned he had been dating her again. They had one of those on again off again relationships.

"I've realised I need more clothes." Slash said suddenly. This shocked her a little,

"How many do you have?" She chuckled,

"Like three shirts and two pairs of pants- and a loaner leather jacket." He told her.

"Yeah, okay. Pick me up and I'm taking you shopping." She responded, then hung up the phone and started getting ready.

Slash arrived a few minutes later, wearing one of his three shirts and some leather pants.

"Ohh! Where'd you get those!" She smiled and pointed at the pants, which she really liked.

"In a dumpster." He said, then turned and opened the passenger door for her. Her jaw practically hit the floor. A dumpster. She stared at him, and he smirked and gestured for her to get in. She closed her mouth and followed suit, still shocked.

Once they arrived at the shops, she began to browse through the different stores with Slash in pursuit, throwing different t shirts and a pair of jeans over her arm.

"Uh- Raven?"

"Mm?" She responded, flicking through a rack of shirts and adding an aerosmith one to the collection.

"I don't really have the money for this..." he muttered,

"Oh- that's alright, Slash, I'll pay for them."

"Really?" He perked up,

"Yeah, of course! I love to see you happy, and you need more clothing, and- you know- you're one of my best friends!" She smiled.

"Wow- thankyou!" He grinned behind his mass of dark curls. She walked back past him, and as she did, she pecked him on the cheek,

"No worries!" She smiled. It felt natural, not at all awkward or uncomfortable, unlike alot of the moments she shared with Slash and the rest of the guys.

They continued browsing store after store; a jeans place, a place selling shirts, one specialising in men's clothes, a leather store-

"I'm hungry." A shopping laden Slash told his companion.

"Yeah, okay, there's a food court over there" she nodded in the right direction, and Slash led the way. Leaving Slash with the shopping, Raven made her way over to a little place selling chips and burgers.

"A plain burger and a medium chips with a seperate gravy dish, please." She ordered.

Fifteen minutes passed and their food was brought right to them.

Raven opened the plastic container of gravy and hooked in, while Slash unwrapped his burger.

"So, Yvonne..." she began

"Mmm... what about her?" Slash responded,

"Well- what happened? Do you still like her?" She questioned.

"No- well- I dunno... she can be pretty unbearable, yeah. But then- you know- she's got this side of her..." Slash told her, taking a chip from the paper.

"Oh yeah, I know whatcha mean." She said

"It gets so annoying, though cause she never can seem to make up her mind on wether or not she wants to date." He complained, "she's so nice, but- she isn't really worth the fuck around at the end of the day."

As he spoke, Raven fished through the shopping bags, trying to figure out where she put her wallet. She dug through and her fingers came across a thin strip of leather. What was that?

Pulling it out, she saw it was a belt, made from black leather, with  four round silver buckles around it. It was obvious what the item was; Slash's iconic belt around his top hat. He had no top hat at that moment, but Raven realised she had in her hands his infamous belt.

"Where did this come from?" She asked, knowing  she didn't pay for it.

"That leather shop we went through."

"I thought you were broke?" She said, confused,

"I didn't need money. I stole it." He said, unashamed. Raven shot him a foreboding look, she should have known. He smirked back at her.

Once they finished their food, they thought they should head home. Raven had chosen plenty of new clothes for him, and Slash had long ago gotten sick of the shopping center.

They passed a store with a sign out the front; 'retail slut'. Slash stopped, making Raven stop too, turning to see what caught the guitarist's attention. In the little shop, surrounded by punk style gear, was a top hat sitting atop a white mannequin head.

Raven saw a glint in Slash's eye.

"Neither of us could afford that, Slash." She said.

"I know. But we don't need to." He said.

"Hey, hang on a sec- it's not like you can just stick it up your shirt, it's a top hat." She attemped talking sense into him.

"Watch and learn." He said, then walked up casually, grabbed the top hat and walked right on back out. Just like that, Slash had his top hat. And just like that, Raven had personally witnessed Saul mother fucking Hudson steal  his first top hat. Not for the first or last time, she thought of how many people back in the future would envy her, as she walked out of the shopping centre alongside Slash.

Alright, sorry for the wait!
Thanks for your everlasting patience, gunners! Please tell me what you think.