The rest of the year 1993 just flew on by...
Seven months after their wedding, Layne and Demri, happily married, were always together when on tour with Alice In Chains. Layne had insisted she come with them, much to the annoyance of the guys in the band.
Jerry was especially annoyed, for obvious reasons.
He tried his best to move on, but... he just hated it. He hated everything.
He got drunk much more often, preferring to drink his feelings away rather than try to deal with them again (y'know, 'cause the last time he did that, he'd kissed Layne and pretty much ruined everything between them).
He'd pick fights unnecessarily with Courtney, and was on the verge of ending his relationship with her.
But, selfishly, he couldn't seem to let her go.
It's like he needed her to hold on to, to live in denial just a while longer.
As for Layne and Demri... they really tried the sober-monogamous thing, they really did.
Demri was the only one able to control herself, wanting to make an effort for Layne, who had been relapsing after every stint of sobriety. The only exception was her affair with Rosheen, which she just couldn't seem to end, despite Layne's protests.
Layne was trying to stay sober and monogamous too, eventually getting a handle on things in October of that year, a couple months after Demri had.
Then, it seemed, Layne and Demri had finally got their lives back on track. They might finally be happy together.
Unfortunately, fate has a funny way of throwing shit at you when you least expect things to hit the fan.
And there was a shitstorm 'bout to rain down...
***
November 2, 1993: Perth, Australia
Layne was exhausted after a long rehearsal session with the band. All he wanted was to go back to the hotel and sleep. Take some withdrawal pills. Have a smoke.
See Demri.
Demri had been behaving rather strangely as of late. The whole time they'd been touring in Australia, she'd been in a good mood. She'd been excited to have the chance to 'surf', even though she sucked at it.
"I've gotta learn somehow, someway, right? What better method than to dive headfirst into it- ha, I'm pretty punny, aren't I?"
Recently, though, she'd been cold. Distant. Lashing out at Layne for 'smothering' her and for 'annoying' her whenever he'd try to reach out to her to see what was wrong.
It was pretty damn confusing.
As Layne puts on his jacket, he notices Jerry staring at him from where he sits in the corner of the practice room. Jerry looks down almost immediately, face turning red with embarrassment.
Things have been... pretty awkward, since the wedding. Every conversation he has with Jerry is either strictly about the band or their music. Every mention of something that could lead to a conversation about... something more... is either avoided, ignored, or awkwardly dismissed with a different, 'manly' response.
The two are hardly ever in a room alone together anymore.
Layne misses the hell out of his friend.
"That was a cool thing you did with that last song, there," Layne remarks to him, trying to sound aloof.
Jerry looks up from his guitar. "Yeah? It wasn't... too much?"
"No way, man. It was awesome. You should play it like that all the time," Layne smiles.
Jerry smiles back.
YOU ARE READING
Even Now
Fanfiction**Discontinued :( The year is 1993. Heroin addict Layne Staley of Seattle rock band Alice In Chains has just had the fear of God put into him following a bandmate's overdose. When faced with a simple decision, the butterfly effect comes into play...
