Might As Well Be On Mars // Motley Crue

Put The Thrill Back in Bed

They were small things, but looking back on it, he recognized it as young love, the same type of love that begot Evie all those years ago. After he took the time to think about what Vince said and watch how Evie and Nikki interacted, Mick realized how much of an idiot he was for missing the signs.

So, he had accepted it: Evie and Nikki were more than friends. How much actual love and romance were involved, Mick didn't know, but he accepted that it was happening. Now, he had to think about what he was going to do about it.

At first, Mick was angry at Nikki. He believed that Nikki was taking advantage of Evie's naivety and kind heart, making her think they were going to be together forever when all he really wanted was sex. Had Nikki been home instead of driving Evie to her job when Mick was in that mindset, there likely would have been a fistfight and a vacancy in the basement.

But then, Mick cooled down and thought about the situation more rationally. Was he being fair to Nikki, he thought. What evidence did he have to suggest that Nikki was no good, that he couldn't care about a woman? While he could find plenty of evidence to suggest Nikki was untrustworthy, there was also plenty, if not more, evidence to suggest that he was well intentioned, if not the smartest.

Mick ultimately decided that he couldn't tell if he should be angry at Nikki or not.

What mattered more to him, though, was Evie. He was never angry at her. Frustrated, sure, but in every one of Mick's assumptions she was either a victim or a teenage girl acting like a teenage girl. The main dilemma to Mick was whether he was going to talk to her about it or not.

On the one hand, he didn't want to tell Evie she couldn't date Nikki. If he had learned anything in his life, it was that if you tell someone they can't do something, they only wanna do it more. While Evie was never the most rebellious child, she could certainly be a spiteful bitch sometimes.

However, he did want her to understand what was likely going on. Mick couldn't fully convince himself that this was happening, but he had seen far too many cases of older guys taking younger girls for a ride because the girl was too young and inexperienced to realize when someone was treating her like shit. Mick never saw Nikki be mean to Evie (or any woman, for that matter), but he did notice the vast quantities of liquor that went into the basement, and he did notice the white powder sprinkled all over the dashboard of Nikki's car, which he rushed to brush away when he gave Mick a ride a few days ago. The only thing Nikki had going for him was that (to the best of Mick's knowledge), he had managed to stay away from the Motley house.

All of these different ideas flowing through his mind, Mick ultimately decided to remain quiet on the topic of Nikki and Evie's relationship, but he would be watching.

Mick wasn't the only one who worried about the future happiness of the relationship. Evie found herself having doubts too.

Some of it could be attributed to her own internal issues. She often worried about Nikki's loyalty. Part of her was self conscious, believing she wasn't pretty or sexy or likable enough for him, and that one of the hundreds of other women who came to his shows and tried to sneak backstage would lure him away. It didn't help that Evie knew Nikki and his friends had a long history of hooking up with random women for fun. Though he assured her that he wasn't going back to the apartment and there wasn't evidence that he was lying, her own insecurities told her that he was sneaking away while she was at work.

The issue that caused Evie the most distress, though, was Nikki's substance abuse. Evie had a fleeting idea that Nikki was still doing hard drugs. The only evidence she had was the way his pupils got big, and that he sometimes spoke fast and breathlessly. It wasn't hard proof, but it was enough to make Evie's blood pressure rise.