the wild one.

04 | it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll

The following day started with hangovers, which they cured with coffee and medicine. They had stayed over at Nikki's, Harley and Tommy, at least, as Mick had gone home after the party.

At least it was an easy way to start practice off early, despite the boys sleeping in as late as they could.

Being the only one awake, Harley found it slightly awkward sitting on the couch in an apartment that wasn't hers, where she couldn't casually get up and do whatever she wanted.

While she could technically look around, she didn't want to snoop if anything was private to Nikki. This wasn't her house; although Tommy had certainly done so when he first came to her house.

Tommy was the second to wake; while Nikki had slept in his room, Tommy let Harley have the couch, claiming he was a "gentlemen towards the ladies", and he took the floor.

"Morning, dude. How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, you?" She shrugs, not resisting the urge to grin. Harley found it funny how Tommy always spoke the "surfer language" even though he never was a surfer.

"Yeah, me too." He grins back.

"Isn't Vince coming around today?" Harley questions, remembering the singer from yesterday that they had met.

"Oh yeah. I think he'll be perfect for us, his voice is super cool and he gets the chicks." Tommy says as he stands. He makes his way to the kitchen, digging through Nikki's coffee supply. "You want any coffee?"

"You sure Nikki won't care?"

"Nah, he'll be fine. Even then he'll be happy to have a fresh pot." Tommy tells her, grabbing a few mugs from his cabinets and a bag of coffee grounds.

Harley stretches out and sits at the counter, leaning against it as she watches Tommy. Nikki eventually comes out of his room yawning, his hair in a knotted mess.

"Help yourself I guess." He mutters, taking the coffee from Tommy. Harley glances at him, and he shrugs in response.

Once they're caffeinated and ready to go, it's a casual warm-up practice before Mick and Vince show up. Harley stays seated on the couch, her guitar in her lap as she plays.

They're all playing different things at once, the sound clashing slightly. Occasionally, Tommy would play something that they'd both know, and they'd join in with their separate lines. They play an assortment of songs, ranging from Black Sabbath to Kiss, and Queen.

Mick eventually joins them, hearing his booming bass halfway down the street. He left his amp at Nikki's, so all he had to carry was his guitar.

With Mick in the group now, it goes from casual playing to working on the instrumentals of their songs.

The sound of another car outside alerts the group, and the music halts long enough for Nikki to check who it was.

"Tommy! Vince is here." He shouts, and Tommy jumps up from his stool to let Vince in.

"Vince!" Tommy exclaims, high-fiving him as he comes inside. Vince grins cheerfully and returns the high five. The blonde girl at his side was recognized from the party, she eyed the group with a frown, before sitting next to Harley on the couch.

Harley gets up now, joining the others since the whole group had shown up now.

"Hey, I'm Nikki. That's Mick, and that's Harley." He says, pointing at them when he says their name. Vince glances between the two, Harley giving him a slight wave while Mick just stares at him.

Nikki grabs a sheet off the counter, the lyrics for "Live Wire", and hands it to Vince. Taking the mic from Nikki too, Vince examines the lyrics as his girlfriend gets up to look at them too.