ʙᴀᴅ ᴏʙꜱᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴇɴ☆

Izzy barely slept that night, between looking after Steven once you'd gone to bed and replaying the previous events in his mind, that ship sailed a long time ago.

It was no surprise when the sun rose and he was still sitting on the sofa, having nodded off for a whole twenty minutes before being disrupted again.

"God, why did you let me drink so much last night?" Axl moaned as he left the bathroom after freshening up, he then took a seat next to Izzy.

"You're a grown man, I'm not gonna tell you when to stop," Izzy had his eyes shut, a headache coming on due to the lack of sleep and ventilation in the bus.

"Rough night?" Axl quizzed, studying his features, "wanna go for a walk or something?"

"Yeah, sure."

They both set off, the bus had been parked for a couple of hours while the driver took a rest. Nowhere in particular in mind, they found themselves wandering into an empty park. Well, it was first thing in the morning, most normal people weren't awake yet.

"Are you gonna tell me what's on your mind? Or are we playing the guessing game again?" Axl stopped to sit on a bench, Izzy hovering for a moment before following suit.

"There's nothing really to tell."

"Bullshit there isn't."

Izzy sighed, lifting his sunglasses from his face so he could have a proper look around while he thought about what to say. Axl was his oldest and best friend, maybe speaking to him would relieve him a little.

He began recalling what had happened, the 'almost kiss' that Steven had interrupted. Axl didn't seem all that surprised, he merely hummed along with each detail as he took it all in.

"I can't say I didn't see it coming," Axl responded once Izzy had finally finished his story.

"What do you mean?" Izzy cocked his head, intrigued.

"This facade, you should know I can see right through it, Iz. When she was sick, you never shut up asking me about her. When she was away you moped around for days on end. It's just as well the other guys think you're always a moody bastard."

Izzy jabbed him in the ribs for that comment, Axl merely chuckled and carried on talking.

"Worst part is, Duff would fucking kill you for it. You're lucky he didn't come for you after sleeping with her, he assumed it was a drunken one off. But you remember what he said to us, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Forbidden fruit, I know. I wouldn't make a move, it's not like that."

"Do you want it to be?"

Izzy pondered the idea in his mind, weighing it up. He couldn't deny to himself for much longer that he was strongly attracted to you, but he never saw himself as a one girl kind of guy. Especially not with Duff's best friend.

No, he knew his place, and he knew yours. You weren't an option, never had been and never will. You were like the Mona Lisa, something to be admired from afar but from afar only.

"Na."

He tried to keep his mind occupied by engaging in endless chatter with Axl, but every now and then you'd pop into mind. He'd find himself wondering if you were up, wondering if you'd noticed he wasn't there. He shook every thought from his brain, each time faking a smile as he looked at Axl.

—

Down the block, inside the bus, you were searching high and low for the pair of them. You were about to make some breakfast, and everyone had to be up early for telephone interviews anyway, but they were no where to be seen.

A large piece of paper was scrunched up on the table, you unfolded it to find Axl's handwriting.

'Gone for a walk, be back soon.'

You assumed Izzy was with him so you breathed out in relief, half worried last night had scared him away. It was all happening so fast, you hadn't anticipated it.

You'd crawled into Duff's bed first thing, but decided against telling him. Slash had told you about their agreement years ago, and you didn't think he'd be happy to know you and Izzy almost kissed.

About half an hour later, the pair of them walked in, spirits high and moods bright. The happiest you'd seen Izzy in quite a while.

"So, there's this party tonight at a friend of mines, we down? He lives down the road from where our hotels will be," Slash excitedly announced when walking into the room.

It didn't take much persuading, everyone was pretty game, but something about it gave you a bad feeling. You weren't sure what it was, but you had an awful idea that you just might soon.